The French way of voice rehabilitation post total laryngectomy: current clinical practices and tendencies

Abstract

Background Vocal rehabilitation post total laryngectomy (TL) lacks clinical guidelines, especially with the presence of multiple modalities. Objectives To describe the tendencies of vocal rehabilitation post TL in France and compare it with other countries. We try to identify the most practiced modalities and recognize statistically significant influencing factors. Materials and methods An electronic anonymous survey was answered by 75 ENT surgeons from France. The survey outlined the common practiced vocal rehabilitation modalities and had two versions depending on if the participant practices the tracheoesophageal speech (TES) or not. Results 96% use TES in their practice. Single modality TES and double modality TES with esophageal speech (ES) are the two most practiced modalities. 99% agreed that there is no age limit for the TES. Single modality ES was offered 92% more when more than 10 TL were performed per year (p < .05). No influencing factors found for single modality TES or double modality TES with ES (p > .05). Conclusion: In line with tendencies from other countries, the TES is the most practiced modality of vocal rehabilitation coupled or not with the ES. TES has no age limit as per our participants. The least practiced modality is the singe modality ALS.