title: Bilateral vocal cord paralysis secondary to head and neck surgery.
abstract: Even endotracheal intubation could be considered safe in operations under general anesthesia; rarely, it could cause recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis as a complication. As mentioned in the literature, as a possible reason for this, anterior branches of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the larynx could suffer from compression between the posteromedial part of the thyroid cartilage and the cuff of the tube. In the literature, unilateral vocal cord paralysis due to endotracheal intubation occurs more frequently in comparison to bilateral vocal cord paralysis. These types of palsies usually totally improve in approximately 6 months. A patient who experienced bilateral vocal cord paralysis in the early postoperative period after undergoing an endotracheal intubation process for general anesthesia and primary partial lip resection and supraomohyoid neck dissection due to lower lip carcinoma is presented in our article. Although vocal cord paralysis occurring after head and neck surgery is first thought as a complication of the surgery, endotracheal intubation should be considered as a possible cause of this paralysis. In relation with this patient, causes, clinical symptoms, and treatment procedures of vocal cord paralysis due to endotracheal intubation are discussed under guidance of the literature.
authors.affiliation: SB İstanbul Goztepe Training and Research Hospital, and İstanbul University Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muhammet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tekin
authors.forename: Gul Ozbilen
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: Asim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaytaz
authors.forename: Feray Karaali
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Savrun
authors.forename: Melek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Çelik
authors.forename: Osman Halit
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Cam
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008048:Lip Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000209:etiology*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents