Phoniatrical aspects of microsurgery of benign vocal cord lesions.

Microsurgery of benign vocal cord lesions is usually done to improve, to re store or to preserve patients' voice. Solid anatomical and physiological kn owledge concerning the voice are basic requirements of any surgeon operatin g in this field. Preoperative Diagnostics and Documentation: The significan ce of patients' history as well as phoniatric investigation, laryngoscopic and stroboscopic findings and their proper documentation are presented. Ind ications: The surgical procedure must be part of an extensive therapeutical concept that also takes into consideration drug therapy as well as voice t herapy procedures to improve Voice quality. Postoperative Regimen: The care for the patient's voice usually goes beyond surgery. To gain the best poss ible postoperative results, several steps are necessary in addition to surg ical procedures. These steps will be pointed out.