title: 'The holiday plug': a temporary solution to the problem of the leaking voice prosthesis.
abstract: Tracheo-oesophageal prostheses are commonly inserted in patients following total laryngectomy to improve the quality of the voice. Unfortunately the device eventually fails and requires replacement. A valve change, although well tolerated by patients, necessitates an out-patient visit and delay in its replacement can lead to problems of pneumonia or dehydration. In this short paper we describe a simple temporary solution for a leaking valve and recommend its use in patients who are delayed in returning to the unit for example when on holiday.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Oncology, Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Batch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radford
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D006801:Humans; D007825:Laryngectomy; D007831:Larynx, Artificial; D011475:Prosthesis Failure
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins