LONG-TERM RESULTS OF VOICE REHABILITATION AFTER TOTAL LARYNGECTOMY USING PRIMARY TRACHEOESOPHAGEAL PUNCTURE IN CHINESE PATIENTS

Purpose: Prosthetic voice restoration is an increasingly popular metho d of postlaryngectomy voice rehabilitation. Despite its success in non -tonal languages, the efficacy of tracheoesophageal speech in tonal la nguages was largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to evalu ate the long-term results of voice rehabilitation using a Blom-Singer valve (BSV) in the tonal language of Cantonese. Patients and Methods: The records of 159 patients who underwent total laryngectomy and prima ry tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) between May 1985 and December 1994 were retrospectively reviewed. Tracheoesophageal speech was regarded as functional if effective communication could be made during face-to- face conversation and telephone conversation. Any TEP-related complica tions were noted. Perioperative factors that might contribute to nonfu nctional speech were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: Six h ospital mortalities were excluded from speech analysis. Of the remaini ng 153 patients, the median follow-up was 25 months, ranging from 3 to 113 months. Seventy-three patients had closure of tracheoesophageal f istulae (TEF), and the main causes were ineffective voice production, dislodgment, and tracheostomal stenosis. Only 15 of them acquired func tional speech before closure. The other 80 patients used a BSV as the chief modality of voice rehabilitation, with functional results achiev ed in 64 patients. None of the perioperative factors were found to be statistically significant in relation to nonfunctional speech. Conclus ion: Primary TEP is an established method of voice rehabilitation afte r total laryngectomy. In our series, 52% patients achieved functional tracheoesophageal speech using a BSV. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saund ers Company.