Patterns of alaryngeal voice adoption and predictive factors of vocal rehabilitation failure following total laryngectomy

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveWe aimed to determine patterns of alaryngeal voice acquisition and predictive factors of vocal rehabilitation (VR) failure following total laryngectomy (TL) at a large Canadian tertiary care center.MethodsAll consecutive patients having undergone a TL between January 1st, 2011 and December 31st, 2019, at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal were included.ResultsOne hundred and ninety‐seven laryngectomized patients were identified. Successful VR was achieved in 86 (59.0%) patients, while 59 (41.0%) failed to use a method of alaryngeal voice as their principal means of communication at 1 year postoperatively. The use of tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) was associated with higher VR success rates (70.6%) when compared with the artificial larynx (48.6%), and esophageal voice (18.8%). The only independent predictor of VR failure on multivariate analysis at all time points was a low socioeconomic status.ConclusionFailure to adopt an alaryngeal voice following TL is highly prevalent, despite comprehensive and free speech language pathologist services being offered at our center. A low resort to TEP at our institution and a poor acceptability and accessibility of alternative VR methods may contribute to this trend. The challenges of VR may be further exacerbated by the barriers linked to a lower socioeconomic status, which in turn may contribute to reduced candidacy for TEP.