Why is partial laryngeal nerve lesion more dangerous than complete lesion?
you are guessing right, a partial lesion of the recurrent laryngeal nerve results in greater degree of paralysis of the abductor muscle than the adductor, so the affected vocal cord assumes the adducted midline position ( the reason behind this is not explained satisfactorily, it is assumed that the abductor muscle receives more nerves so a partial lesion would result in more damage to nerve fibers supplying the abductors). the partial lesion is most dangerous if it occurs bilaterally, so both vocal cords assume the midline position causing acute dyspnea & stridor. a complete lesion of the nerve would result in vocal cord assuming a position midway between abduction & adduction, so even if the lesion is bilateral the airway is still patent ( only partially closed) but speech is lost. so it’s a kind of paradox, a complete lesion will result in partial closure, however, a partial lesion would result in complete closure of air way ( assuming it’s bilateral).
