The quality of voice and speech before and after surgical treatment of bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis

Abstract

Introduction. Bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis usually occurs after thyroid surgery. In bilateral vocal cord paralysis, the voice is clear or slightly hoarse. The aim of this study was to determine whether the quality of voice and speech significantly deteriorates after the surgical treatment of bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. Material and Methods. The study included 16 patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The patients underwent partial arytenoidectomy with posterior cordectomy at the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in the period from January to April 2014. The quality of voice and speech was determined before and after surgical treatment by subjective, objective, aerodynamic voice analysis, and analysis of spontaneous speech, and then compared to the control group. Results. The results of this study showed that in patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis the voice and speech quality was significantly worse compared to the healthy subjects. The results of subjective and aerodynamic analysis showed that there was a statistically significant deterioration in voice quality after the surgical treatment (p<0.05; p=0.001). The values of objective analysis and analysis of spontaneous speech parameters did not significantly change after the surgery (p>0.05; p=0.401). Conclusion. The patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis have a poorer voice and speech quality compared to the healthy subjects. After the surgical treatment, patients presented with a lower voice quality, but there were no significant changes regarding the ability of spontaneous speech.