Voice prostheses: long-term follow-up retrospective study (three- to sixteen-year follow-up of 22 patients).

BACKGROUND: Thirty-five patients using tracheoesophageal voice with a 3- to 16-year follow-up were investigated. We analyzed functional voice outcome, voice prosthesis (VP) lifespan, and VP-related complications. METHODS: Between 1987 and 2001, 81 patients underwent total laryngectomy (TL). The 35 currently surviving patients (31 men, 4 women) were studied for VP lifespan and VP-related complications encountered up to 16 years after surgery. For voice rehabilitation, the 35 laryngectomies of our study required 178 prostheses. Short- and long-term voice results of 22 patients were compared by objective voice examination: maximum phonation time (MPT), intensity range (Int.), fundamental frequency (F0), frequency analysis (FA), and voice handicap index (VHI). RESULTS: Long-term results are: F0=131 (range: 30-250); Int=22.5 dB (range: 17-35 dB); MPT=4 sec (range: 2-12 sec); FA=3 (range: 1-4); VHI=38/120 (range: 8-73). Short- vs long-term outcome comparison shows the following values: F0: 93 vs 135 Hz; Int: 25 vs 24 dB; FA: 1 vs 3; and MPT: 21 vs 4 sec. The mean VP lifespan is 165.5 days for Provox (range: 2 days-30 months); 143.5 days for Blom-Singer (range: 10 days-24 months); and 195 days for VoiceMaster (6-7 months). Postoperative complications involved 12 cases of periprosthetic leakage (6.74%); 31 granulomas (17.4%); 3 partial stenoses of the tracheoesophageal tract (1.6%); and 1 temporarily removed VP (0.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Complications are generally resolved during standard office-setting examination. The commercially available VPs are complementary, used according to the diverse characteristics of each VP.