[Hoarseness after endotracheal intubation caused by submucosal hemorrage of the vocal cord and recurrent nerve palsy].

Hoarseness often follows endotracheal intubation. A 58 year old man suffered from hoarseness due to recurrent nerve palsy and submucosal hemorrhage of the right vocal cord after general anesthesia. He was scheduled for resection of chronic pyoderma of the buttocks and atheroma of the right retroauricular region. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental 300 mg and endotracheal intubation was facilitated with vecuronium 6 mg. A spiral tube with 8 mm of inner diameter (Mallinckrodt Medical) was inserted with no problems. The tube was fixed at left side of the mouth. The cuff was inflated with air but the cuff pressure was not monitored. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane (1-3%) and 67% N2O in 33% O2. Respiration was controlled mechanically. The patient was turned to the prone position and his head was turned to the right. The duration of surgery was one hour and forty minutes. Extubation of the tube involved no problems. He complained of hoarseness after surgery. Right recurrent nerve palsy and submucosal hematoma were observed. Without any treatment, hematoma disappeared in 70 days and hoarseness in 183 days. These hematoma and recurrent nerve palsy might be due to the compression of the vocal cord and recurrent nerve by tracheal tube and traction of the recurrent nerve by rotation of the neck.