Abstract
Received August 7, 2012 Revised October 16, 2012 Accepted October 17, 2012 Address for correspondence Soo-Kweon Koo, MD Department of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, Busan St. Mary’s Medical Center, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-gu, Busan 608-838, Korea Tel +82-51-933-7214 Fax +82-51-956-1956 E-mail koosookweon@naver.com Background and ObjectivesZZSome chronic sinusitis patients complain that voice change, which occurs during surgeries such as endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), can lead to changes in the vocal organ. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of ESS on voice by questionnaire and voice analysis. Subjects and MethodZZThirty patients (male 15, female 15) who had underwent ESS were enrolled. All patients had sinusitis confirmed by preoperative CT scan. We analyzed subjective voice impairment by way of questionnaire (Korean-Version of Voice Handicap Index, KVHI) and objective voice impairment by Computerized Speech Laboratory one day preceding and at one month following the surgery. Finally, the subjective impairment of voice was analyzed by subjective questionnaire at postoperative 6 months. In objective analysis, we analysis 11 ESS cases on the formant frequencies of five vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/) and three nasal consonants (/namu/, /nuna/, /umma/). ResultsZZIn the questionnaire (KVHI), there was a little change in the functional, physical and emotional field but the results were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In the voice analysis, the first formant frequencies of /a/, /u/, the third formant frequency of /o/ of vowel and /a/ of /namu/ of nasal consonant were significantly increased postoperatively compared to those of the preoperative status (p<0.05). However, there was no major change. There was no subjective voice impairment at 6 months after operation. ConclusionZZAfter ESS, some voice impairment were observed in KVHI and some formant frequencies were increased in the objective voice analysis but without serious major voice changes. We conclude that ESS is relatively safe from voice point of view; however, for some professional voice users, particular attention needs to be paid regarding fine voice changes. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2012;55:686-92
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