Laryngeal anesthetization for the treatment of acquired disfluency: a case study

The subject of this case study is an adult who became severely disfluent after a motor vehicle accident in which he did not suffer significant injuries. His disfluency persisted for 4 months notwithstanding a short trial of speech therapy. Hyperfunctional phonation subsystem disturbances were identified on follow-up evaluations. Laryngeal anesthetization was achieved via a transcutaneous lidocaine injection. The patient improved dramatically within 15 min of the procedure. More than 18 months later, he has retained normal speech fluency without any additional post-injection intervention. Theoretical discussions are rendered to help interpret this treatment outcome.

The reader will be able to describe (1) the laryngeal movements and adjustments commonly associated with stuttered speech; (2) the speech dysfunctions a patient evidenced following a motor vehicle accident; and (3) the author's treatment rationale for resolving the patient's speech disorder.