The following is information for patients considering vocal cord or voice box surgery. These topics are general guidelines about surgery on the voice box. Be aware that different surgeons, hospitals, regions, and countries all vary to some degree on these guidelines. Nonetheless, these outlines should help you understand the process a bit.
- Injection laryngoplasty
- an office procedure to move or increase the bulk in a vocal cord.
- Medialization laryngoplasty or Augmentation laryngoplasty
- an external procedure to bulk up or move over one or both vocal cords. It is also known as a thyroplasty or Isshiki Type I procedure as the original description of the procedure was by Dr. Isshiki and he named the procedure after the thyroid cartilage on which he was operating.
- Microlaryngoscopy
- looking at the vocal cords with a microscope or endoscope typically to look at or remove something from the vocal folds.
- Cricothyroid approximation (CTA)
- an operating room procedure to raise the lowest pitch you can produce. Primarily designed for transgender male-to-female patients.
- Reduction laryngoplasty
- an operating room procedure to reduce the height (protuberance) of the Adam’s apple. This is also known as a tracheal shave, though it is a procedure on the larynx (voice box) which connects to the top of the trachea (windpipe). Primarily designed for transgender male-to-female patients.
- Feminization laryngoplasty
- an newer operating room procedure (an alternative to CTA) to raise the lowest pitch you can produce by removing the front of the voice box and shortening the vocal cords. Primarily designed for transgender male-to-female patients.
- Thyrohyoid elevation
- a procedure to raise the resonance of the voice. Primarily designed for transgender male-to-female patients.
- Consent forms
- the legal part that you sign when you are ready for the procedure and understand the risks.