The Effect of Upper Airway Surgery on Voice

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to assess patient perception and acoustic characteristics of voice before and after upper airway surgery. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a prospective assessment of 44 surgical patients preoperatively and postoperatively at a tertiary care, academic hospital. Operations included septoplasty and turbinectomy (n = 28) and septoplasty, turbinectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, and tonsillectomy (n = 16). Patient opinion measures included Voice Handicap Index score, perception of vocal resonance, and change in voice. Acoustic measures included assessment of the relative amplitude of selected formants (resonances) of the vocal tract. RESULTS: Mean Voice Handicap Index scores were unchanged after surgery. Nine patients (20%) perceived their voice to be improved after surgery. None perceived the voice to be worse. Postoperative changes in relative formant amplitudes were statistically significant. These changes caused the acoustic features to become more representative of normative data than the preoperative values. CONCLUSION: Upper airway oeprations can affect acoustics and perception of voice. SIGNIFICANCE: Patients are unlikely to perceive a change in voice as a result of upper airway surgeries, but in those cases where a difference is perceived, it is likely to be a positive change.