Serial transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography in intensive care unit for assessment of vocal cord palsy: a case report

Keywords:

Serial ; ultrasound ; thyroidectomy ; ICU ; vocal cord palsy


Published online: Jun 30 2020

https://doi.org/10.56126/71.2.6

N. Kumar (*), A. Kumar (**), A. Kumar (*), A. Kumar (**)

(*) Department of Trauma & Emergency, AIIMS Patna, Bihar, India.
(**) Department of Anesthesiology, AIIMS Patna, Bihar, India.

Abstract

A direct laryngoscopy is currently the standard method for diagnosing RLN (Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve) paralysis after thyroid or parathyroid surgery but this procedure can be uncomfortable for patients and may cause undesirable changes in vital signs. A 40 years old female after a total thyroidectomy was assumed to have a bilateral vocal cord palsy on direct laryngoscopy after surgery. Patient was shifted to intensive care unit (ICU) on ventilatory support. We used serial transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography in the ICU for assessing the vocal cord functions along with conservative management. After 3 days, we were able to safely extubate the trachea and tracheostomy was avoided.

AAB-71-4-Cover

About this issue

Volume 71, issue 2.

Jun 2020.

Sponsors

BeSARPP

Open access journal

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.