The Feasibility of Outpatient Type I Thyroplasty with Laryngeal Reinnervation

Type I thyroplasty has increasingly been performed on an outpatient basis. Laryngeal reinnervation is recognized for its long-term and functional benefits but is typically performed inpatient under general anesthesia. Herein we report the first published outpatient type I thyroplasty with laryngeal reinnervation performed under monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Three adults underwent type I thyroplasty with ansa cervicalis to recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) reinnervation. A 23-year-old female with a history of generalized idiopathic epilepsy s/p vagal nerve stimulator implantation presented with persistent dysphonia. She developed longstanding left vocal fold paralysis. She underwent left type I thyroplasty with silastic implant and ansa cervicalis to RLN neurorrhaphy under MAC-local anesthesia. The patient was discharged home on the day of surgery. Two additional patients underwent the same procedure, including a 58-year-old male with postsurgical dysphonia who was admitted for overnight observation due to a small amount of incisional crepitus and a 23-year-old female with postsurgical vocal cord paralysis who was admitted overnight due to multiple comorbidities. Both were discharged on post-operative day one without issue and demonstrated improvement in voice at follow up. Outpatient type I thyroplasty with laryngeal reinnervation under MAC is feasible with proper patient selection.