Laryngeal Reinnervation
The ultimate goal in treating a patient with a vocal cord paralysis is to reinnervate (supply a new, functioning nerve supply to) the paralyzed vocal cord. Much research has gone into this concept, but the goal remains elusive for many reasons. The most important reason is the complexity of the normal nerve supply to the vocal cord. Any attempt at reinnervation, in order to get the vocal cord to function normally, would need to hook up hundreds of microscopic nerves together with at least five tiny muscles in precisely the right combination (and without a map of which nerve goes where).
The latest research has allowed nerves to be hooked up to individual muscles, but the vocal cord cannot be made to move normally. The purpose of the reinnervation is to prevent further atrophy of the vocal cord muscle. Often, even with this, a laryngoplasty is necessary, as it may take up to a year for the nerve-muscle hookup to occur after the procedure. Many researchers doubt whether the ultimate goal of providing normal vocal cord motion through reinnervation will ever be possible.
