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Results of vocal rehabilitation using tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis after total laryngectomy and their predictive factors

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
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Abstract

The aims of this retrospective study were to evaluate prosthetic voice restoration by tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) in laryngectomized patients and to identify clinical factors correlated with functional outcomes. Between 2000 and 2008, 103 patients who underwent total laryngectomy or pharyngolaryngectomy (TPL) were included in our study. Functional outcomes were recorded 6 months postoperatively, and results were scored from 0 to 2 for oral diet and speech intelligibility. Lifetime of voice prosthesis and early and late complications were recorded. The impact of several clinical factors on functional outcomes, prosthetic valve lifetime and complications was assessed in univariate analysis. A total of 87 patients (84%) underwent TEP and speech valve placement (79 primary and 8 secondary punctures). Hypopharyngeal tumors (P = 0.005), circular TPL (P = 0.003) and use of a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap (P = 0.0003) were significantly associated with secondary TEP. Successful voice rehabilitation was obtained by 77 of 82 evaluable patients (82%). A high level of comorbidity (ASA score ≥ 3; P = 0.003) was correlated to speech rehabilitation failure. The median device lifetimes were 7.6 and 3.7 months for Provox I and II speech valves, respectively. Minor leakage around the valve occurred in 26% of the patients. Late complications occurred in 14 patients (16%) including: severe enlargement of the fistula (n = 3), prosthesis displacement (n = 7) and granulation tissue-formation (n = 4). In conclusion the use of voice prosthesis showed a high success rate of vocal rehabilitation with an acceptable complication rate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Chirurgie, Institut Universitaire de la Face et du Cou, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189, Nice, France

    Alexandre Bozec, Gilles Poissonnet, François Demard, José Santini, Katia Anselme & Olivier Dassonville

  2. Département de Statistiques Médicales, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189, Nice, France

    Emmanuel Chamorey

  3. Département d’Oncologie Médicale, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189, Nice, France

    Frédéric Peyrade

  4. Département de Radiothérapie, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189, Nice, France

    Cécile Ortholan, Karen Benezery & Juliette Thariat

  5. Département d’Anatomie Pathologique, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189, Nice, France

    Anne Sudaka

  6. Département de phoniatrie, Service d’Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Hôpital Pasteur, 30 voie romaine, 06000, Nice, France

    Brigitte Adrey & Paul Giacchero

Authors
  1. Alexandre Bozec
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  2. Gilles Poissonnet
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  3. Emmanuel Chamorey
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  4. François Demard
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  5. José Santini
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  6. Frédéric Peyrade
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  7. Cécile Ortholan
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  8. Karen Benezery
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  9. Juliette Thariat
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  10. Anne Sudaka
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  11. Katia Anselme
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  12. Brigitte Adrey
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  13. Paul Giacchero
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  14. Olivier Dassonville
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Correspondence to Alexandre Bozec.

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Bozec, A., Poissonnet, G., Chamorey, E. et al. Results of vocal rehabilitation using tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis after total laryngectomy and their predictive factors. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 267, 751–758 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-009-1138-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-009-1138-x

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