Persistent dysphonia after laryngomicrosurgery for benign vocal fold disease.
OBJECTIVE
Laryngomicrosurgery (LMS) is used to manage most vocal fold lesions. However, the functional voice outcome of the LMS might be diverse due to the influence of various factors. We intend to evaluate the incidence and etiologic factors of persistent dysphonia after LMS for benign vocal fold disease (BVFD).


METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of 755 patients who underwent LMS for BVFD. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, preoperative and postoperative two onths voice studies. Postsurgical dysphonia was defined as grade 1 or above in GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain) scale. Thirty nine patients (5.2%; 25 males and 14 females; average, 42.9 years; range, 21 to 70 years) were diagnosed with postsurgical dysphonia.


RESULTS
There was no correlation between the diagnosis, coexistence with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, habit of smoking, or occupational voice abuse and voice outcome. The patients with a worse preoperative acoustic parameter had aworse voice outcome. Stroboscopic findings showed excessive scarring or bowing in 21 cases, presence of lesion remnant in eight cases, prolonged laryngeal edema in five and no abnormal findings in three.


CONCLUSIONS
Great care should be taken in patients with worse preoperative jitter. With a few exceptions, postoperative dysphonia can be avoided by the use of an ppropriate surgical technique.
Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Yoo Seob
YS
Shin
Jae Won
JW
Chang
Suk Min
SM
Yang
Hee Won
HW
Wu
Min Hyuk
MH
Cho
Chul-Ho
CH
Kim
Benign vocal fold disease; Laryngomicrosurgery; Persistent dysphonia