The Medialization Laryngoplasty: Reviving and Empowering Voices

The famous ‘voice box’ isn’t actually a box! It’s a cartilaginous structure composed of two bands/infoldings of muscle and mucous membranes called vocal cords. They gather when you speak and separate when you breathe. When one of the two is paralyzed, or when one is weak, the voice can become an inaudible whisper when you exert the force and breath of a shout. The medialization laryngoplasty (formerly known as the thyroplasty) is a viable course of treatment.

The patient is placed under local anesthesia. An incision is made in the front of the neck to locate the cords, a small window is then created in the voice box alongside the vocal cord. Then, an implant is placed next to the affected vocal cord. The patient will be asked to say a few words to check that the implant strengthens the voice. The incision is closed with dissolvable stitches and bandaged. The patient is not advised to speak for three whole days (that includes whispering and laughing too!).

The procedure takes 90 minutes but can cure a lifetime of issues: the medialization laryngoplasty has proven successful in restoring the voice and treating other symptoms of vocal cord paralysis. The implant is often permanent and rarely needs removal or repositioning. When treating vocal cord paralysis, the medialization laryngoplasty is classified as Type I.

If the patient has spasmodic dysphonia (uncontrolled muscle spasms of the vocal cords), the medialization laryngoplasty is classified as Type II. The procedure entails setting the vocal cords apart and readjusting the supportive tissue in the voice box that keeps the vocal cords in place. Type III is a procedure to shorten the vocal cords so that the voice sounds deeper. Type IV involves lengthening the vocal cords so the voice sounds higher. 

Written by Hana Shqairat at Incisionary

References

Cleveland Clinic Medical Professional. (2026, March 30). What is a medialization Laryngoplasty & Why would I need one?. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22748-thyroplasty 

Saurabh, Shakti. (2019). DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HUMAN PHONATION. 10.13140/RG.2.2.24047.28324.