What Is Laryngeal Nerve Damage?

The superior laryngeal nerve comes from the nodular ganglia of the vagus nerve, its location is close to the jugular vein foramen, and it is divided into internal and external branches on the plane of the hyoid bone. The outer branch of the superior laryngeal nerve is dominated by motor dominance of the cyclothyroid muscle, and there are branches to the hypopharyngeal constrictor and thyroid. In addition, before the outer branch enters the ring thyroid muscle, a branch is branched into the throat through the lower edge of the thyroid cartilage, and together with the anterior branch of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, it goes to the onychomycosis and the ring scapula. After the laryngeal nerve is separated from the vagus nerve, it has a shorter stroke in the neck, less damage than the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and is generally unilateral, which is easy to damage and its outer branches.

Basic Information

Visiting department

ENT

Common causes

Scaling, gunshot wounds, surgical trauma, etc.

Common symptoms

The sound becomes low

Contagious

no

Causes of superior laryngeal nerve injury

1. Neck trauma (knife wound, gunshot wound, etc.).

2. Surgical trauma.

Clinical manifestations of superior laryngeal nerve injury

Lower voice is one of the clinical manifestations of superior laryngeal nerve injury.

Unilateral superior laryngeal nerve injury

The frequency range of speech is narrowed, and no treble is allowed.

2. Bilateral superior laryngeal nerve injury

No treble, monotonous sound.

Examination of superior laryngeal nerve injury

Unilateral superior laryngeal nerve injury

(1) The edges of the vocal cords on the affected side of the physical examination are irregular and arcuate. Due to the contraction of the healthy side of the ring thyroid muscles during vocalization, the thyroid cartilage is twisted to the healthy side, and the healthy side of the ring cartilage is lifted up.

(2) Guttman test: Normal people pressurize the thyroid cartilage from the front, the sound becomes low; if pressurized from the side, the sound becomes high, and the above signs are present on the contralateral side when the parathyroid muscle is paralyzed.

(3) Laryngoscopy showed that the glottis was oblique and the vocal cords on the affected side were lower than those on the healthy side.

2. Bilateral superior laryngeal nerve injury

(1) Wrinkles appear in the vocal cords of the physical examination due to the effect of the nail muscle. When the finger is placed on the caudal membrane and palpation sounds, the affected caudal caudalis loses contraction or traction. Unilateral or bilateral superior laryngeal nerves do not cause dyspnea and swallowing.

(2) Laryngoscopy examination of bilateral vocal cord longitudinal strain disappeared, wrinkles appeared.

Diagnosis of superior laryngeal nerve injury

Medical history

History of neck trauma or thyroid surgery.

2. Clinical manifestations

Treble is missing. Physical examination revealed abnormal glottic morphology.

Treatment of superior laryngeal nerve injury

Generally, no special treatment is required, and vocal training can be performed. If the symptoms are severe, surgical methods can be used to reduce the space between the nails.