Factors affecting outcomes of injection laryngoplasty: A systematic review

Abstract

Vocal cord palsy is a common reason for visiting an otolaryngologist. In cases of unilateral involvement, patients primarily present with recurrent choking and aspiration, breathy voice, and inability to perform the Valsalva maneuver. Injection laryngoplasty (IL) is one of the least invasive and promising lines of treatment for unilateral vocal cord palsy (UVCP). The present study identified the existing evidence on factors that may affect the voice and swallowing outcomes of IL in adult patients with UVCP. This review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and PRISMA checklist. The U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed) database was searched for studies on UVCP managed with IL. Sixteen articles investigated six distinct factors that affected the outcomes of IL. These six factors include early intervention, the approach used for injection, the degree of the posterior glottic gap, the number of irregular peaks, previous radiation therapy history, and the material used for injection.: This review is the first study to investigate all of the possible factors that affect IL. This review found six distinct factors that affected the outcomes of IL. Each of the retrieved studies investigated a different factor without considering the confounding effect of the other factors. This review guides future research for the development of a much more structured protocol to elucidate the weight of each factor in affecting outcomes.