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:
External laryngeal nerve
Recurrent laryngeal nerve
Mandibular nerve
Vagus nerve
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