[CO2 laser assisted posterior cordotomy for bilateral vocal cord paralysis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of CO2 laser assisted posterior cordotomy for patients with bilateral paralysis of the vocal cord. METHOD: Twenty-one patients with bilateral paralysis of the vocal cord underwent CO2 laser assisted posterior cordotomy in our hospital from Jul. 2009 to Jun. 2015. The causes of the bilateral paralysis of the vocal cord were thyroidectomy in 15 cases, cervical trauma in 2 cases, resection of pituitary tumor in 1 case, inflammation in 1 case and without cause in 2 cases. Ten patients underwent tracheotomy before the operation; 9 patients underwent tracheotomy after the operation; 2 cases without tracheotomy. RESULT: The tracheotomy tube was plugged next day after posterior cordotomy. Lots of patients were breathing well without any effort. A few patients were breathing hard, so the tracheotomy tube was plugged discontinuously. Seventeen patients were decannulated 1 year after operation. Two patients were failed to decannulated. The patients were followed up for 3 months 6 years after operation, and all of them were breathing well. CONCLUSION: Our limited experience showed that CO2 laser assisted posterior cordotomyis an effective and reliable surgical procedure for patients with bilateral paralysis of the vocal cord.