A comparison of type I thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction

Glottal incompetence is a common laryngeal disorder causing impaired swallowing and phonation. The resultant voice has been characterized as weak and breathy with a restricted pitch range. Currently, medialization thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction are two of the surgical treatments for patients with glottal incompetence. However, few studies have evaluated the changes in objective measures of speech with type I thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction. In this study, 59 patients with glottal incompetence underwent either type I thyroplasty or arytenoid adduction. Acoustic (jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio) and aerodynamic (airflow, subglottic pressure, and glottal resistance) measures were obtained both pre- and postoperatively. No significant differences were found among acoustic or aerodynamic measures for operation type. However, a significant pre/postsurgery effect was observed for translaryngeal airflow. In addition, no significant differences were found among the measures for patients with traditional compared with nontraditional operative indications. Patients who developed glottal insufficiency due to previous laryngeal surgery (e.g., vocal fold stripping) demonstrated no statistically significant improvement in acoustic or aerodynamic measures following thyroplasty or arytenoid adduction.