Assessment of Vocal Cord Movement After Thyroid Surgery Using C-MAC Video-laryngoscope and Airway Ultrasound.

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

In this prospective study 100 patients posted for Thyroid surgery will be included, after explaining the procedure and written informed consent, all included patients in the study will be assessed for vocal cord mobility by C-Mac video laryngoscope (manufactured by KARL STORZ Video Laryngoscopes) followed by airway ultrasonography (USG). Linear transducer (7.5 MHz) will be used for scanning the airway placed at the level of thyroid cartilage with 10-15 degree cephalad tilt so to get proper acoustic window and for optimal visualization of laryngeal structures. C-Mac video laryngoscope will be required for virtual visualization of glottis apertures and vocal cord movement. All patients will be scanned pre-operatively by indirect laryngoscopy to see vocal cord mobility as a reference value. Immediately after extubation the patient will be scanned for vocal cord mobility by videolaryngoscope by first examiner, After oxygenation and stabilization of haemodynamic, ultrasound of airway will be performed to study the vocal cord movement by the other examiner (blinded to the laryngoscopy finding).Visibility of false vocal cords, true vocal cords and arytenoids will be given one point each for one side, maximal score will be 6. According to points the acoustic window scoring for glottis aperture will be graded as fair (score1-2), good(score3-4) and very good(score5-6) Findings of both the examiners will be collected by the primary investigator for data collection and analysis.

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

• • To ascertain whether airway ultrasound can be used as a reliable alternative to assess post-operative vocal cord mobility(After extubation and before dressing.)