title: Posterior cordectomy. Our experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several surgical procedures have been proposed for the treatment of respiratory distress secondary to bilateral cord palsy. We performed a retrospective study of our experience in posterior cordectomy with a laser CO(2), analysing the improvement of dyspnoea and voice quality after surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of 13 cases (9 female, 4 male). The age range was 25-79 years. Iatrogenic post-thyroidectomy (4 cases) was the most common aetiology of bilateral laryngeal palsy in our study. We assessed the subjective improvement of respiratory function and voice quality after laser surgery using the Spanish adaptation of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dyspnoea improved in all patients. Two cases had a worsening of dyspnoea in the immediate postoperative period and one case was successfully solved with a new surgical intervention. After surgery, most of patients suffered from mild or middle dysphonia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The posterior cordectomy is an easy, safe and effective treatment for dyspnoea secondary to bilateral laryngeal palsy, maintaining acceptable voice quality.
authors: Unidad de Foniatría, Servicio de ORL, Hospital Donostia, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España. mamiklan@hotmail.com
authors: Mikel
authors: M
authors: Landa
authors: Iñigo
authors: I
authors: Luqui
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Gómez
authors: Zuriñe
authors: Z
authors: Martínez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000601:surgery*