Endoscopic Posterior Cricoid Split With Graft in an Adult With Posterior Cricoid Fracture

Abstract

A 45-year-old man presented with bilateral vocal fold immobility (BVFI) following a remote history of assault. He was found to have a comminuted, telescoped, and ossified posterior cricoid fracture on imaging. Electromyography revealed normal cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid muscle function, but moderate chronic denervation of bilateral posterior cricoarytenoid muscles. The patient underwent endoscopic posterior cricoid split with rib graft (EPCS/RG), and he regained moderate vocal abduction and full vocal adduction, resolution of dysphonia, and was decannulated. This report describes the only case of an adult with BVFI due to a posterior cricoid fracture that was successfully treated with EPCS/RG.

Anthropological analysis of trauma in throat bone and cartilage: A review

“…Although non-fatal fractures of throat structures, especially the hyoid, are rare they have been noted clinically [ [63] , [64] , [65] ]. Clinical symptoms of hyoid fracture include neck and throat pain, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), odynophagia (painful swallowing), hemoptysis (airway bleeding), swelling and neck tenderness.…”