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Emergency Medical Minute

Podcast #208: Vocal Cord Dysfunction

May 24, 2017 · 4 min · 6.7 MB
0:00-4:31

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Author: Martin O'Bryan M.D.

Educational Pearls:

  • Vocal cord dysfunction can mimic other causes of stridor, such as asthma and upper airway obstruction.
  • Patients are often very anxious because of the difficulty of inspiration.
  • The definitive diagnosis is laryngoscopy that must be done by a pulmonologist.
  • The treatment is general reassurance, asthma medications will not help. CPAP and heliox can be used to help with the stridor.
  • Benzodiazepines can be used to reduce the associated anxiety.

References: https://asthmarp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40733-015-0009-z