Selective surface stimulation in unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP)

Introduction Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) is a rare disease and as such its diagnosis and treatment procedures are little or not standardized. Until now, surface electrical stimulation of the neck region corresponding to the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle position has been evaluated in preliminary studies with a small sample size. It is the aim of our trial to provide systematic data on this approach.

Methods Evaluation under videolaryngoscopy of the stimulation parameters causing visually detectable medialization of the ailing vocal fold (VF) at rest and during phonation in patients suffering from UVFP for less than 3 months at time of examination.

Results So far, we enrolled 16 patients diagnosed with UVFP. Medialization of both the ailing and the healthy VF was observed with stimulations elicited at 1 Hz, with pulse duration between 50 and 250 msec, and amplitude between 3 and 7 mA. In this parameter range no adverse event such as increased swallowing reflex, platysma, or coughing was observed.

Conclusions Surface electrostimulation of the neck region corresponding to the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle position showed promising results. Our study aims to reach a minimum sample size of 30 subjects in order to confirm these preliminary data.

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Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020