Outcomes of Fat Injection Laryngoplasty in Unilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis

Objective: To analyze outcomes following fat injection laryngoplasty in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis. Design: Longitudinal outcomes evaluation study. Setting: Tertiary referral voice center. Patients: Thirty-three consecutive patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis undergoing autologous fat injection laryngoplasty with preoperative and serial postoperative follow-up at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Intervention: Autologous fat injection laryngoplasty. Main Outcome Measures: Voice laboratory measurements, Voice Outcome Survey, and 36-item Short Form Health Survey. Results: Except for the physical functioning dimension of global health, voice-related subjective outcomes and acoustic variables of the patients significantly improved after surgery (P < .05). Compared with population norms, the mean (SD) scores of patients were inferior on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey dimensions of physical functioning (80.7 [22.3] vs 90.2 [17.4]) and role functioning physical problems (65.0 [36.2] vs 80.2 [36.2]). Overall, 88.9% (24 of 27) of the patients were satisfied with their surgery. Conclusions: Fat injection laryngoplasty seems to be effective in enhancing acoustic and quality of life outcomes in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis. The effect is sustainable over 12 months.