| Affiliation: | (1) Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan;(2) Division of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, K4/789 CSC 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53792 , USA;(3) Department of Otolaryngology, Fukushima Medical University, 960-1295 Fukushima, Japan;(4) Kojima ENT Clinic, 5-9 Shimogamo-Maehagi-cho, 606-0833 Kyoto, Japan |
| Abstract: | Since 1990, we have performed steroid injection into the vocal fold by fiberoptic laryngeal surgery (FLS) under local anesthesia. In this study, the usefulness of this method was evaluated in 28 patients with vocal nodules. Under monitoring using a fiberoptic laryngoscope, a curved injection needle was inserted via the oral cavity and steroid was injected. Endoscopic findings showed that the vocal nodule had disappeared in 17 patients of the 27 patients and decreased in 10 after injection. The maximum phonation time was 10.9 s before operation and 13.9 s after operation, showing a significant increase (P<0.05), and the mean flow rate also showed a significant improvement (P<0.05). The patients self-rating concerning hoarseness demonstrated great improvement after injection. This technique can be performed under local anesthesia in combination with voice therapy on an outpatient basis, and it is considered to be useful for treating vocal nodules. |
