RESUMEN
IMPORTANCE: A reliable procedure is needed to solve the problem of difficult airway in patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis without adversely affecting patient "voice quality." OBJECTIVES: To compare the results of laser-assisted posterior cordotomy with diathermy-assisted posterior cordotomy for bilateral vocal cord paralysis in regard to dyspnea severity, voice quality, and aspiration. DESIGN: Prospective randomized clinical trial at a university medical center. SETTING: Zagazig University Hospitals, Zagazig, Egypt. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty patients randomly categorized into 2 groups; group A was treated with laser-assisted posterior cordotomy and group B was treated with diathermy-assisted posterior cordotomy. INTERVENTION: Laser-assisted posterior cordotomy for group A and diathermy-assisted posterior cordotomy for group B. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE: Dyspnea severity, voice quality, and aspiration. RESULTS: A significant difference (P < .05) was found between group A and group B at all postoperative comparisons in dyspnea, whereas no significant difference (P ≥ .05) was detected at all postoperative comparisons in voice quality. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Laser-assisted posterior cordotomy can be considered as a reliable and superior procedure compared with diathermy-assisted posterior cordotomy in the treatment of bilateral vocal cord abductor paralysis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: ISRCTN08093874.
