title: Bilateral vocal cord palsy post thyroidectomy: lessons learnt.
abstract: Bilateral vocal cord paralysis is a known possible complication following thyroid surgery. It owes to the close relationship between the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the thyroid gland. The most feared complication of bilateral vocal cord paralysis is airway compromise. We report the case of a 39-year-old woman who underwent total thyroidectomy for multinodular goitre. The surgery was uneventful. However she developed stridor in the recovery bay needing intubation. We postulate that the cause was attributed to bilateral vocal cord paresis due to the use of the intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) whose high setting throughout the surgery was overlooked. She made a complete recovery without the need of a tracheostomy. We share our lessons learnt from this case.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Khairunnisak
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Misron
authors.forename: Anusha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balasubramanian
authors.forename: Irfan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mohamad
authors.forename: Nik Fariza Husna Nik
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Hassan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D064795:Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring / Q000009:adverse effects; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000209:etiology*