Preoperative Ultrasonography Assessment of Vocal Cord Movement During Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery

Abstract

Surgeon-performed US appears to be a relatively accurate method for assessing vocal cord movement in the preoperative setting. It can be used to select patients to undergo laryngoscopic examination before thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy.

Preoperative laryngoscopy in thyroid surgery: Do patients' subjective voice complaints matter?

“…13,14 Many groups are evaluating the efficacy of less invasive means of screening for vocal cord dysfunction before and after thyroid surgery, including voice questionnaires and ultrasonographic evaluation of cord function. 13,[15][16][17][18] The majority of thyroid surgeons likely either lack time or choose not to use formal voice assessment methods preoperatively. We are strong proponents of surgeon-performed, in-office ultrasonography.…”

The importance of sonographic landmarks by transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography in post-thyroidectomy vocal cord assessment

“…8,9 Transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography (TLUSG) has been a good, noninvasive selective tool for laryngoscopic examination. 10,11 Our recent study found the overall accuracy of diagnosing VCP using TLUSG in the preoperative and postoperative settings were #100.0% and #94.6%, respectively 12 ; therefore, TLUSG was recommended to be a screening tool for VCP in the preoperative and postoperative assessments. [10][11][12] However, TLUSG remains a relative new and evolving imaging technique in VC assessment.…”

A novel lateral-approach laryngeal ultrasonography for vocal cord evaluation

“…[1][2][3][4] Recently, the utility of transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography (LUS) has been investigated as an alternative to the gold standard direct laryngoscopy (DL), which can be associated with patient discomfort, inconvenience, and additional cost. [5][6][7][8] The previously described midline-, or anterior-approach LUS, however, has significant limitations as a diagnostic tool because of its high failure rate of VC visualization in patients with prominent or calcified thyroid cartilage, typically observed in elderly or male patients. 5,9 Wong et al 9 reported that the older age and male sex were found to be independent risk factors for ''unassessable'' VC.…”