Higher risk of superficial injection during injection laryngoplasty in women

To review our clinical experience with percutaneous injection laryngoplasty at a single institution over a three-year period, and to specifically assess the rate of unintentional injection into the superficial lamina propria (SLP) and compare with results found in the literature.

Medical records were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who underwent office-based injection laryngoplasty (OBIL) over a three-year period. Video documentation and the written notes of the procedures were reviewed to determine the rate of inadvertent placement of injectate into the SLP. A literature review was performed to identify other reports of this complication and contributing factors.

113 consecutive patients were identified who underwent OBIL in the study period. Of these, 100 patients had adequate records and follow-up available for this review. All patients underwent injection augmentation with bovine collagen using a percutaneous trans-membrane or trans-cartilaginous technique. 96 had improvement in their vocal quality and/or effort. Four patients, who were all women, had unintentional injection into the SLP with resultant no change in voice or worsened voice. All superficially placed injectates were managed conservatively.

Injection into the SLP is a well-recognized possible complication of OBIL. Our results suggest that this complication occurs more often in women than in men, perhaps due to differing laryngeal anatomy and size.