Endoscopic Arytenoid Abduction Lateropexy with Endolaryngeal Thread Guide Instrument for Bilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

The treatment of upper airway stenosis is considered to be one of the most difficult fields in laryngology. In the 100-year-old history of airway stenosis surgery several important works of Hungarian authors (Rethi, Lichtenberger, Pytel) are found. At the Department of Oto-Rhino- Laryngology and Head- Neck Surgery, University of Szeged our workgroup has been working on the treatment of upper airway stenosis for more than 30 years. Hereby we introduce our surgical concept for bilateral vocal fold paralysis, the minimally invasive endoscopic arytenoid abduction lateropexy (EAAL), which provides an immediate adequate airway with acceptable voice quality, and good swallow function. A new Endolaryngeal Thread Guide instrument (ETGI) is also presented here, which is essential for a safe, accurate, and fast suture loop creation around the arytenoid cartilage for this surgical procedure.