Analysis of Voice Quality After Thyroid Surgery

Abstract

Voice changes are a common complication after a thyroidectomy, which isa surgical procedure involving partial or total removal of the thyroid gland. The main objective of this work is to examine the possible voice disorders after thyroid surgery. More precisely, it is an investigation of partial and total thyroidectomy, as well as the effects that cancerous and noncancerous thyroid glands can have regarding postsurgical vocal and their association with age and gender. Patients were evaluated using acoustic voice parameters, including harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, speaker phonation frequency (SPF) range, cepstral peak prominence (CPP), maximum phonational frequency range (MPFR), and shimmer at the preoperative stage and postoperatively at the 1day, and first-month stages. Results demonstrated a significant change in F0 parameters, SPF range, and CPP feature 1 month after surgery, depending on the type of thyroidectomy and thyroid pathology. No significant changes were observed in the HNR, shimmer, and jitter features. Age was associated with the CPP parameter in the entire sample. In contrast, the MPFR parameter was also related to the type of thyroidectomy in the entire sample. However, maximum F0 was significantly associated with the type of thyroidectomy, specifically in the female sample. Results indicated that a thyroidectomy can have a negative impact on voice quality. The age and type of thyroidectomy performed are not responsible for this change. Potentially this change can be due to factors such as nerve damage or the subjects' experience, such as job, anxiety, and their physical condition, as well as treatments they may have undergone before thyroidectomy. Further efforts are needed to fully understand the background of voice changes after thyroidectomy.