New surgery restores girl's paralysed vocal cord

A teenager has undergone a new procedure to restore movement to a paralysed vocal cord.

Charlotte, 14, from Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, is the first patient in the region to have laryngeal reinnervation surgery.

The operation involves connecting a healthy nerve in the neck to the damaged nerve controlling the voice box.

"It feels weird but very cool to know that I'm the first person in the East Midlands to have this procedure," said Charlotte.

Laryngeal reinnervation is currently available at only a few specialist centres in the UK.

The operation was carried out at Leicester Royal Infirmary by surgeons from University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, with support from a specialist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

Charlotte was born at 26 weeks and underwent heart surgery shortly afterwards to treat a congenital heart condition.

The surgery is thought to have damaged the nerve supplying her vocal cords.

She was diagnosed with left vocal cord palsy after seeking medical advice about her increasingly quiet and husky voice last year.

The procedure was performed by Rohan Bidaye, consultant ENT surgeon at Kettering General Hospital, and Prof Bindy Sahota, consultant head and neck and robotic surgeon at University Hospitals of Leicester.

"Until now, patients would often have needed to travel outside the region to access this treatment," said Bidaye.

"By establishing the service locally, we can ensure more patients benefit from timely access to specialist care closer to home."

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