VOCAL FOLD PALSY AFTER USE OF THE LARYNGEAL MASK AIRWAY

We report two cases of left vocal fold palsy following use of the lary ngeal mask airway. In both cases anaesthesia was uneventful with a dur ation of about 60 minutes. It is proposed that high intra-cuff pressur es induced during anaesthesia resulted in distension of the hypopharyn x and subsequent neuropraxia of the motor branches of the recurrent la ryngeal nerve and the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.