This systematic review discusses the use of hyaluronic acid in injection laryngoplasties. Unilateral vocal cord paralysis leads to incomplete vocal fold adduction and dysphonia. For patients not improving with voice therapy, surgical procedures include injection laryngoplasty or open laryngeal framework surgery such as vocal cord medialisation, type I thyroplasty and/or arytenoid adduction. Of these, injection laryngoplasty is popular as it is least invasive. It can be performed with a hyaluronic acid hydrogel, Teflon, collagen, calcium hydroxyapatite, or fat. The systematic review results showed that the main indication for HA injection was unilateral vocal fold paralysis with mean age of patients being 58.7 years and mean follow-up of 5.9 months. Small particle HA had less long-term durability compared to large particle HA, and the average time of resorption of HA gels was between six and 12 months. The authors conclude that HA gel improves voice quality more than other injected materials due to its favourable effect on vibratory functions of the vocal folds.
Hyaluronic acid injection laryngoplasty
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Injection laryngoplasty with hyaluronic acid for glottal insufficiency in unilateral vocal fold paralysis: a systematic review of the literature.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
View Full Profile
