If only one of these nerves is damaged, the patient's voice may be impaired (dysphonia); if both of the nerves are damaged, the patient will be unable to speak (aphonia).
The dysphonic voice can be hoarse or excessively breathy, harsh, or rough, but some kind of phonation is still possible (contrasted with the more severe aphonia where phonation is impossible).
The deliberate cessation of speech is fundamentally different from pathological conditions that affect our ability to talk, like dysarthria, dysphonia and aphonia.
This nerve can be vulnerable in thyroid surgery, if damaged control to the rima glottidis may be affected resulting in a hoarse voice, aphonia or difficulty breathing.
