Outcomes of fat injection laryngoplasty in unilateral vocal cord paralysis
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Published on: December 1, 2023
Tuan-Jen Fang1, Hsueh-Yu Li, Richard E Gliklich
1Department of Otolaryngology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
Objective:
To analyze outcomes following fat injection laryngoplasty in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis.
Design:
Longitudinal outcomes evaluation study.
Setting:
Tertiary referral voice center.
Patients:
Thirty-three consecutive patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis undergoing autologous fat injection laryngoplasty with preoperative and serial postoperative follow-up at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Intervention:
Autologous fat injection laryngoplasty.
Main Outcome Measures:
Voice laboratory measurements, Voice Outcome Survey, and 36-item Short Form Health Survey.
Results:
Except for the physical functioning dimension of global health, voice-related subjective outcomes and acoustic variables of the patients significantly improved after surgery (P < .05). Compared with population norms, the mean (SD) scores of patients were inferior on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey dimensions of physical functioning (80.7 [22.3] vs 90.2 [17.4]) and role functioning-physical problems (65.0 [36.2] vs 80.2 [36.2]). Overall, 88.9% (24 of 27) of the patients were satisfied with their surgery.
Conclusions:
Fat injection laryngoplasty seems to be effective in enhancing acoustic and quality of life outcomes in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis. The effect is sustainable over 12 months.
