Difficulty in high-pitched phonation by laryngeal trauma.

We treated a case of laryngeal trauma in which difficulty in high-pitched phonation was the main feature of a voice problem. We emphasize the importance of phonatory function tests in determining the mechanism of voice disorders and in monitoring the effects of treatment. Physical examination, phonatory function tests, computed tomographic scan, and electromyogram disclosed that the voice problem was caused by a fracture of the thyroid cartilage and its fixation against the cricoid cartilage. An open reduction yielded recovery of the phonatory function.