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Vocal chord paralysis following cervical fusion
Last march 2011 my husband had cervical fusion. The next day I brought him home from the hospital. We were home 5 minutes and he said he couldn't,t breathe, call an ambulance. He died but they paddled him back. He now has both of his vocal chords paralyzed and has difficulty swallowing food. He saw an ent who said wait a year might get better. It didn't,t. He even went to speech or voice therapy with no help. He is miserable. Is there any hope for him. Does anybody know if there was a problem in surgery that led to this. Lease help!!!!!
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I am so glad you are ok. Thank you sooo much for your caring reply. I plan on looking into this further. Will keep you posted. Stay well!
Thank you so much for the feedback. I will do as you suggested. It,s nice to hear back from caring people.
Will agree with Smiley. This can happen with a ACDF, however, you can have this investigated.
Hi there,
I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your husband.
I had cervical fusion in May 2011 and with extraction of the instrument, the Neuro Surg. cut my carotid artery and had to use patch material to fix it. I was in ICU and discharged on post-op day 5.
My voice was hoarse and very soft for about a week after the op, but it returned to normal.
I am unsure what lead to his breathing problems of the next day. They should not have discharged him so soon! Fusions are risky surgery and he should have been monitored for at least 5 days post-op!
Unfortunately the Surgeons has to move the Esopagus/Trachia tube and carotid artery, etc. with instruments, in order to get to the cervical spine and insert the plates/screws and do the replacement/fusion. It could be that, with the extraction and removal of their instruments, they damaged his vocal cords and weakened the peristalsis of his Esophagus.
You can actually open a case against his Surgeon (find a Lawyer that works with Medical-suits) and that would warrant an investigation to explain why he almost died and now has vocal cords paralyzis.
All the best and hugs ( )
I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your husband.
I had cervical fusion in May 2011 and with extraction of the instrument, the Neuro Surg. cut my carotid artery and had to use patch material to fix it. I was in ICU and discharged on post-op day 5.
My voice was hoarse and very soft for about a week after the op, but it returned to normal.
I am unsure what lead to his breathing problems of the next day. They should not have discharged him so soon! Fusions are risky surgery and he should have been monitored for at least 5 days post-op!
Unfortunately the Surgeons has to move the Esopagus/Trachia tube and carotid artery, etc. with instruments, in order to get to the cervical spine and insert the plates/screws and do the replacement/fusion. It could be that, with the extraction and removal of their instruments, they damaged his vocal cords and weakened the peristalsis of his Esophagus.
You can actually open a case against his Surgeon (find a Lawyer that works with Medical-suits) and that would warrant an investigation to explain why he almost died and now has vocal cords paralyzis.
All the best and hugs ( )
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