Surgical Outcomes of Ejnell’s Operation

We retrospectively analyzed the data of 9 patients with bilateral vocal cord fixation who underwent Ejnell’s operation for laterofixation of the vocal folds at our department between January 2012 and December 2021. The bilateral vocal cord fixation was caused by cardiovascular surgery in 3 cases, total thyroidectomy in 2 cases, long-term tracheal intubation in 2 cases, thymectomy in 1 case, and radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer in 1 case. We used a 2-0 nylon suture for laterofixation of the vocal folds; two sutures were used in 5 patients, and one suture in 4 patients. In all the patients, tracheotomy was performed prior to Ejnell’s operation to prevent dyspnea. The tracheostoma could be closed in 8 of the 9 patients (89%) after Ejnell’s operation. In the remaining 1 patient, the tracheostoma could not be closed, because the patient developed pyogenic spondylodiscitis and became bedridden after the operation. Repeat operation was needed in 3 patients because of recurrence of the glottal stenosis. During the repeat operation, we confirmed the disruption of the nylon thread in all 3 patients. We used silicon spacers to fix the nylon thread in 7 of the 9 patients, and the remaining 2 patients needed repeat Ejnell’s operation. Use of a silicon spacer during Ejnell’s operation may be of value to minimize the risk of repeat operation.