Investigation of the effect of endolaryngeal vocal cord surgery on voice level and life quality of patients

Abstract

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the efficiency of the performed surgery for patients with vocal cord polyps or intracordal cysts according to their own evaluations and to analyze the effects of surgery to patients’ life quality. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was performed with 56 patients (32 males, 24 females; mean age: 35.2±15.95 years; range, 19 to 61 years), of whom 35 had vocal cord polyps and 21 had intracordal cysts, between March 2015 and January 2018. Improvements in voice level and life quality were preoperatively and postoperatively investigated by the life quality index and other subjective evaluations. Results: After the surgery, patients’ own evaluation for their voice quality from 0-10 points increased from 4.8 to 8.3, and the change was statistically significant (p<0.05). Improvements were determined in subparameters other than pain, vitality, physical function, and physical role difficulty according to the life quality scale (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although pathologies that cause dysphonia are mostly not life threatening, they functionally or psychosocially effect patients’ life quality. It is possible to increase life quality in benign pathologies by surgical treatment.