Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Oct;36(10):2509-15.
doi: 10.1007/s00268-012-1674-1.

Preoperative ultrasonography assessment of vocal cord movement during thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Shih-Ping Cheng  1 , Jie-Jen Lee, Tsang-Pai Liu, Kuo-Sheng Lee, Chien-Liang Liu
Affiliations

Preoperative ultrasonography assessment of vocal cord movement during thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Shih-Ping Cheng et al. World J Surg. 2012 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Preoperative detection of vocal cord palsy is important in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. However, routine fiberoptic laryngoscopy may bring patients unnecessary discomfort. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using surgeon-performed ultrasonography (US) as a screening tool for preoperative assessment of vocal cord movement.

Methods: In the first phase, patients had both laryngoscopic and US examination before surgery. In the second phase, patients had US evaluation first. Those with abnormal vocal cord movement on US, with invisible cord movement, or presenting with significant vocal symptoms underwent laryngeal examination.

Results: In all, 93 (82 %) of 114 patients had successful US evaluation of vocal cord movement during the first phase. Two of them had vocal cord paralysis. In the second phase, vocal cord movement could be evaluated by US in 349 (84 %) of 415 patients. Four patients with abnormal movement were confirmed to have vocal cord palsy by laryngoscopy. None of 46 symptomatic patients with normal movement on US had vocal cord palsy. One other patient whose cord movement could not be seen by US had vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopic examination.

Conclusions: Surgeon-performed US appears to be a relatively accurate method for assessing vocal cord movement in the preoperative setting. It can be used to select patients to undergo laryngoscopic examination before thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2008 Sep;393(5):667-73 - PubMed
    1. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2010 Sep;395(7):859-64 - PubMed
    1. World J Surg. 2005 Jun;29(6):780-4 - PubMed
    1. Laryngoscope. 2005 Jan;115(1):178-83 - PubMed
    1. Br J Surg. 1991 Sep;78(9):1116-7 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources