The authors present an account of the historical development of surgical operations performed to improve the insufficiency of the true glottis. Two basic trends are followed up: surgery of the laryngeal skeleton and injections of the vocal cords and their augmentation. In 1911 for the first time injection of paraffin into the vocal cord was described by Brüningsen, subsequently for injection and augmentation sesame oil, was used, gelation, glycerin, paste prepared from deprotei- nated bone, cartilaginous suspension, tantal paste, teflon paste, Gelfoam, collagen, Hydron, fat hyaluronic acid. The history of surgical operations on the laryngeal skeleton started in 1915 when Payr described medialization of the vocal cord by prying the cartilagenous lobe of the thyroid cartilage into the larynx. Further development involved in particular modifications of the access into the larynx using prostheses of different shapes and from different materials. Carti lage was used as well as hydroxyl apatite. At present the most widely used material is silastik. Isshiki described medialization of the vocal cord by implantation of a silastic prosthesis as thyroplasty type 1 and extended possibilities as regards rotation and adduction of the arytenoid tuberosity.

        Key words: phonosurgery, medialization of the vocal cords, history.