Thyroplasty

Thyroplasty is a phonosurgical technique designed to improve the voice by altering the thyroid cartilage of the larynx (the voice box), which houses the vocal cords in order to change the position or the length of the vocal cords.

It is the most commonly used surgical procedure to correct unilateral vocal cord paralysis (a condition where the vocal cord of one side is paralysed).In this type of thyroplasty, a rectangular portion of the thyroid cartilage is mobilized and pushed towards the medial side using a piece of silastic block of proper shape under local anesthesia.

Earlier, the piece of the thyroid cartilage was kept along with implant and the stitches were taken, but nowadays, the piece of the thyroid cartilage is cut and removed to avoid complications.Currently, there are four types of implant procedures which are used to perform type 1 thyroplasty.

It has the most proven success rate and the duration of the procedure is slow in comparison to other implant system.

It has reduced incidence of trauma.This system consists of different sizes and shapes of implants made from hydroxyapatite (a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite).

A silicon wedge is used to fix the incised thyroid cartilage in the newly abducted position.

The main purpose of this combination is the medialization of the entire vocal cord (anterior and posterior).