OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical evaluation and indirect laryngoscopy with videolaryngostroboscopy (VLS), which is a new method of diagnosing abnormalities and dysfunction of the vocal folds. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Teaching hospital, Turkey. SUBJECTS: 218 patients who required thyroidectomy and who had no vocal abnormality preoperatively. INTERVENTIONS: Clinical evaluation, indirect laryngoscopy, and VLS before operation and on the second postoperative day. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The specificity of all three investigations was 100%. The sensitivity of VLS was 100%, of clinical evaluation 81%, and of indirect laryngoscopy 67%. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical evaluation and indirect laryngoscopy are safe ways of evaluating abnormalities of the vocal cords postoperatively. It would probably not be cost-effective to use VLS routinely, but for differential diagnosis and evaluation of prognosis of vocal abnormalities after thyroidectomy it is more accurate.
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Savaş Koçak (1999) studied this question.