Type I Thyroplasty Is Safe in Patients Undergoing Antithrombotic Therapy

Type I thyroplasty is one of the most useful surgeries for unilateral vocal fold paralysis. The study objective was to determine whether type I thyroplasty is safe and perioperative antithrombotic management is acceptable in patients undergoing antithrombotic therapy.

This is a single-hospital retrospective cohort study. The records of 204 patients who underwent type I thyroplasty at a Japanese university hospital, between 2008 and July 2018 were reviewed. We compared the prothrombin time international normalized ratio, prothrombin time, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and intra- and postoperative complications between patients who did and did not receive antithrombotic therapy.

Of 204 patients, 51 (25%) received antithrombotic therapy (antithrombotic group). The remaining 153 patients were assigned to the control group. There were no significant differences in operative time, intraoperative blood loss, or intraoperative complications between the two groups. Sixteen (31%) patients in the antithrombotic group had a hemorrhage or hematoma in the vocal fold mucosa postoperatively, no patient had airway obstruction necessitating tracheostomy, and all patients recovered with follow-up observation only. There were no cases of intraoperative or postoperative complications, such as ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, or deep vein thrombosis.

Type I thyroplasty with careful pre- and postoperative management is safe in patients undergoing antithrombotic therapy.