Disorder of mobility of vocal folds on the background of hypoparathyroidism at patient after subtotal resection of thyroid gland

Abstract

During surgery on the thyroid gland, injury to the recurrent nerve is possible with the development of a clinical picture due to impaired mobility of the vocal fold. A disturbance of the mobility of the opposite vocal fold in the form of a paradoxical spasm may join these manifestations if the parathyroid glands were affected during surgery, followed by a decrease in the level of ionized calcium in the blood. Management of such patients presents certain difficulties. A clinical case of examination and treatment of a patient with bilateral impairment of mobility of the vocal folds resulting from thyroid surgery is presented. The peculiarity of this observation is that because of our treatment, we managed to stop the spasm of one vocal fold, and then restore the mobility of the other vocal fold, due to which a complete restoration of the respiratory and vocal function was achieved.