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The effect of partial and total laryngectomy on couples’ sexual functions in men with larynx cancer

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate effect of total or partial laryngectomies with or without adjuvant treatments on couples’ sexual functions.

Methods

The study included 39 male patients with laryngeal cancer and their female partners who were sexually active. Twenty-six patients underwent total laryngectomy, and 13 had partial laryngectomy. Sexual functions were assessed with the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaire for erectile functions, the Male Sexual Health Questionnaire (MSHQ-4) for ejaculatory functions and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for female partners’ sexual functions.

Results

The mean IIEF score significantly decreased from 21.51 ± 8.78 to 16.13 ± 9.6 after the surgery (p = 0.000). The mean MSHQ score significantly decreased from 12.95 ± 3.14 to 10.32 ± 4.59 after the surgery (p = 0.000). To investigate risk factors that might predict decreasing in post-operative erectile and ejaculatory function of the male patients, presence of pre-operative erectile dysfunction (p = 0.04) and additional treatment with chemo-radiation therapy were the predictors for decreases in erectile (p = 0.006) and ejaculatory functions (p = 0.036). The mean FSFI total score significantly decreased from 25.83 ± 7.42 to 13.45 ± 10.09 after the surgery (p = 0.000).

Conclusion

Laryngectomies have negative impact on male erectile and ejaculatory functions, and also have negative effect on female partners’ sexual functions. Presence of pre-operative erectile dysfunction and additional chemo-radiation therapy were the predictors to decrease in erectile and ejaculatory functions after surgery. Therefore, male patients and their female partners should be informed in light of these findings before laryngeal surgery and adjuvant therapy.

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Funding

The authors have no funding and financial relationships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey

    Harun Gür, Cengiz Özcan & Kemal Görür

  2. Department of Urology, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey

    Selahittin Çayan, Erdem Akbay & Elife Kettaş Dölek

Authors
  1. Harun Gür
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  2. Selahittin Çayan
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  3. Erdem Akbay
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  4. Elife Kettaş Dölek
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  5. Cengiz Özcan
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  6. Kemal Görür
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Contributions

HG: design, analysis and/or interpretation, materials, writing, literature, SÇ: writing, critical review, materials, data collection and/or processing, EA: data collection and/or processing, analysis and/or interpretation, writing, EKD: data collection and/or processing, materials, design, CÖ: data collection and/or processing, writing, literature, design, KG: data collection and/or processing, writing, literature, design.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harun Gür.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of University of Mersin (Date: 02.10.2019./No: 2019/426).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Gür, H., Çayan, S., Akbay, E. et al. The effect of partial and total laryngectomy on couples’ sexual functions in men with larynx cancer. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 277, 3397–3402 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06167-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06167-5

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