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Sulcus Mucosal Slicing Technique
Sulcus Mucosal Slicing Technique
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Purpose of review
To present the accurate surgical indication for the slicing mucosal technique, the case
selection, surgical aspects, rehabilitation concerns, and the characteristics of
immediate and long-term outcomes.
Recent findings
The literature is still scarce; few cases are submitted to the slicing mucosa technique
due to its specific indication; an alternative procedure was designed for cases where
mucosal movement is strongly reduced, the inner section of the vocal ligament or
submucosal scar tissue, which can eventually be associated with fat inclusion. Some
selected cases may require thyroplasty type III to optimize functional results.
Summary
Slicing technique is an aggressive powerful resource for the surgical treatment of
severe cases of sulcus striae major, in which mucosal wave is absent and glottic chink is
moderate to severe; voice is intensely deviated immediately postoperation; vocal
rehabilitation is mandatory and an intensive regimen is usually required for the first
2 months; final results can mostly be achieved up to 6 months.
Keywords
dysphonia, slicing technique, sulcus striae, sulcus vocalis
Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 18:512520
2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
1068-9508
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Undifferentiated
Differentiated
Sulcus
Occult
Striae
Epidermoid cysts
Minor
Major
Pocket
Deep
Superficial
Fistulized
Mucosal bridge
Laryngeal microdiaphragm
Vascular dysgenesia
Sulcus classification
The morphological classification of sulcus adopted by us
is as follows: occult sulcus, sulcus striae (or vergeture) and
sulcus pocket.
Occult sulcus
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Table 2 Pontes et al. [19] classification of vocal sulcus and similar classifications
Classification
Author
Occult
Striae minor
Striae major
Sulcus pocket
Type I
Vergeture
Type IIa
Type II
Vergeture
Type I
Type II
Vergeture first, second and third degree
Sulcus vocalis
Type IIb
Type III
Open cyst
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(5) Secondary flaps procedure (Figs 1013): a progressive and alternate approach has to be applied in order
to avoid retraction and loss of control of surgical site.
Usually three to five small counter-incisions have to
be done to obtain three to four mucosal flaps. The
inferior margin of the sulcus has to be surpassed in
order to interrupt the tension line.
(6) Size of secondary flaps (Fig. 14): the surgeon must
be cautious in order to produce the flaps with
different depth to avoid reestablishing the tensional
scar line.
(7) Hemostasis (Fig. 15): Hemostasis is generally easily
controlled with adrenalin-embedded cotton; radioFigure 9 Main flap procedure
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can be easily cut without recurrence; small granulomas do not need to be removed.
(11) Postsurgical care: prophylactic antimicrobials and
antireflux drugs should be prescribed; a 2-day complete vocal rest followed by 10-day partial rest regimen is administered; vocal rehabilitation starts in
the second week after surgery.
(12) Presurgery and postsurgery: laryngoscopical images
(Fig. 17).
A variant of this technique, the inner vocal ligament
section [35,36], may be used when the glottic chink is
mild or moderate; the result of this procedure can be
optimized with fat injection.
Figure 13 Secondary flaps procedure: surpassing inferior
margin
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(a and b) Presurgical inspiratory and phonatory images. (c and d) Postsurgical inspiratory and phonatory images.
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Conclusion
The slicing technique surgery for the severe cases of sulcus
striae major is a complex procedure that requires a skilled
surgeon and a team effort due to a long rehabilitation
program. The treatment goal is to improve functionality
and to reach a stable voice, with reduced effort, which does
not always correlate with a perfectly normal vocal fold.
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