Abstract
Device life of the Provox Vega Indwelling voice prosthesis is as yet untested outside Europe. The current study examined device life and reasons for replacement within an Australian clinical setting. Twenty-three participants were monitored for device life and reasons for replacement. Main outcome measure was days to failure of initial device. Average device life and reasons for replacement were secondary measures. Initial device life data revealed 67 % had functioning devices at 3 months, 52 % at 6 months and 29 % at 12 months. Average device life was 207 days (median of 222). The majority of devices (97 %) failed due to leakage through the prosthesis. The Provox Vega Indwelling voice prosthesis had favourable device life in this cohort of patients and in comparison to European data. Reasons for replacement were consistent with international literature.
Highlights
As in most international health services, tracheoesophageal (TE) speech is the most common method of voice rehabilitation in Australian clinical settings [1]
The current study examined device life and reasons for replacement within an Australian clinical setting
Device life which extended beyond 1 year was truncated to 365 days as some devices were changed as part of routine care at 1 year
Summary
As in most international health services, tracheoesophageal (TE) speech is the most common method of voice rehabilitation in Australian clinical settings [1]. One of the few limitations of TE speech is the need for ongoing replacement of the voice prosthesis by either the clinician (for indwelling devices) or the patient (for non-indwelling devices). The most common reason for replacement of an indwelling device is leakage through the device. Other reasons for device removal include leakage around the device, or fistula-related problems including granulation tissue formation or infection [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
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