A 65 year old man presented with vocal cord palsy. He is a pan chewer since childhood. On examination, his abducting function of vocal cord is impaired. The nerve affected is:
The sole abductor of the vocal cords is the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle which is innervated by recurrent laryngeal nerve. Innervation of the Vocal Cord: Muscle Nerve Adductors (lateral cricoarytenoid, thyroarytenoid, interarytenoids) Recurrent laryngeal (adductor branch) Posterior cricoarytenoid Recurrent laryngeal (abductor branch) Cricothyroid External laryngeal
External laryngeal nerve
Recurrent laryngeal nerve
Mandibular nerve
Vagus nerve