About 3 1/2 weeks ago I had a minor surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) with anesthesia delivered via endotracheal intubation. A couple days afterwards, I essentially lost my voice – I can talk, but it’s hoarse and weak. It’s still that way, which I find worrisome.
The surgeon has told me that it’s not unusual to have some sort of trauma to the vocal chords or the nerves to them (or something in that area), and that it should recover in time. He says he’s seen it numerous times and sees no cause for alarm and that’s it’s premature to involve an ENT physician. I gather that it may take another few weeks (:eek:) to get my voice back, and he says there’s nothing I can do to help it along.
I have no reason to doubt what I’ve been told, but I’d find it comforting to understand it better. I’m curious as to exactly what sort of trauma to exactly what part of me is likely to have occurred, and why it might take to so long to heal. Any light that might be shed on this will help ease my mind.
Note: my understanding is that this is NOT like typical laryngitis caused by overuse of the voice, and that common treatments for that (resting the voice, drinking tea w/ honey & lemon, etc.) are not applicable.
We covered this a little bit in Broadcast Performance class, in a short lesson on laryngeal injury.
When you’re intubated, the larynx gets knocked around some, which can cause some swelling and bruising to the soft tissues, and if the vocal cords are involved, you’ll be hoarse and whispery until the injury heals. You do have to give it time, and it doesn’t hurt to rest your voice as much as possible and to swallow gently so as not to re-aggravate the injury.
It is my personal opinion that post-endotracheal hoarseness persisting this long would typically warrant an ENT referral, even though it may well be the case that nothing needs to be done except observation. However I have no special expertise with this condition and without direct familiarity, this opinion is worth about what you are paying for it, less the SDMB fees.