title: Nasalance change after sinonasal surgery: analysis of voice after septoturbinoplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Changes in nasalance caused by resonance change after endonasal surgeries have been reported in prior studies. In clinical practice, although patients often complain of a nasal voice just after surgery, their voices recover over time. The objective of this study  was to evaluate the long-term nasalance changes before and after endonasal surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who underwent sinonasal surgery at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital between March 2009 and July 2011 were included in this study. We classified the subjects into three groups  according to the surgeries they underwent: group 1, the septoturbinoplasty group; group 2, the endoscopic sinus surgery group; and group 3, the septoturbinoplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery group. We checked acoustic profiles, Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain (GRBAS) scores,  and nasalance using a nasometer before and after the sinonasal surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When considering multidimensional voice program results, no observed parameters showed statistically meaningful changes before or after the operation in all three groups. GRBAS scales in all  patients changed less than two scales postoperatively. Nasalance increased at 1 month after the operation in all groups. However, it returned to original levels with time: 3 months in group 2 and 6 months in groups 1 and 3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sinonasal surgery can change the acoustic  characteristics of the vocal tract and produce a significant increase in nasality in the early phase. However, after proper healing of the nasal cavity, nasality was observed to become similar to the preoperative level. Therefore, patients, especially voice professionals, do not need to be  wary of voice changes after sinonasal surgery.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Young Ha
authors: YH
authors: Kim
authors: Sang Hee
authors: SH
authors: Lee
authors: Chang Woo
authors: CW
authors: Park
authors: Jin Hee
authors: JH
authors: Cho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D059747:Nasal Surgical Procedures; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014420:Turbinates / Q000601:surgery; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult