Artículo de revista
Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation of the Cricothyroid Muscle in Patients With Suspected Superior Laryngeal Nerve Weakness
Fecha
2014Registro en:
Journal of Voice, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2014
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2013.09.003
Autor
Guzmán Noriega, Marco
Rubin, Adam
Cox, Paul
Landini, Fernando
Jackson Menaldi, Cristina
Institución
Resumen
In this retrospective case study, we report the apparent clinical effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical
stimulation (NMES) in combination with voice therapy (VT) for rehabilitating dysphonia secondary to suspected
superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) weakness in two female patients. Both patients failed or plateaued with traditional
VT but had significant improvement with the addition of NMES of the cricothyroid muscle and SLN using a VitalStim
unit. Stimulation was provided simultaneously with voice exercises based on musical phonatory tasks. Both acoustic
analysis and endoscopic evaluation demonstrated important improvements after treatment. In the first patient, the major
change was obtained within the primo passaggio region; specifically, a decrease in voice breaks was demonstrated. In
the second patient, an improvement in voice quality (less breathiness) and vocal range were the most important findings.
Additionally, each patient reported a significant improvement in their voice complaints. Neuromuscular laryngeal electrical
stimulation in combination with vocal exercises might be a useful tool to improve voice quality in patients with
SLN injury.