Technique for external repositioning of the paralyzed vocal cord with silastic implant.

A technique is introduced for vocal cord mobilization in which a tunnel is made through the inner perichondrium of the thyroid cartilage and a medical grade silicone is placed from the upper part of the thyroid cartilage and pulled out over the cricothyroid membrane. This technique was performed on six dogs, and results were compared to those of a modified laryngoplasty performed on another six dogs. The technique was refined on 20 cadavers and finally performed on five adult patients with more than 1 year of vocal cord paralysis. Results of this technique suggest that it constitutes a good alternative to Teflon injection; morbidity was minimal.