Functional outcome after surgery for prevention of pharyngospasms in tracheoesophageal speakers. Part I: Speech characteristics. Laryngoscope 1995 Oct;105(10):1093-103
Date
10/01/1995Pubmed ID
7564842DOI
10.1288/00005537-199510000-00016Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0028889718 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 38 CitationsAbstract
The speech characteristics of 29 patients with primary tracheoesophageal puncture who received either a pharyngeal constrictor myotomy, a unilateral pharyngeal plexus neurectomy, or a unilateral pharyngeal plexus neurectomy with drainage myotomy limited to the cricopharyngeus were studied. All patients used a Blom-Singer low-pressure voice prosthesis. Audio recordings of each patient speaking with both the Blom-Singer tracheostoma valve and manual occlusion of the tracheostoma were recorded at 3 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. The three surgical variations were equally effective at preventing pharyngospasms; only 1 patient (10%) in each group had some loss of fluency during the 12-month study period. Neurectomized patients produced significantly higher fundamental frequencies during reading than did patients in the other groups. Residual resting tone in the neurectomized pharyngoesophageal segment may contribute to more favorable speaking frequencies in this group.
Author List
Blom ED, Pauloski BR, Hamaker RCAuthor
Barbara R. Pauloski PhD, CCC-SLP Associate Professor in the Communication Sciences & Disorders department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Analysis of VarianceEsophagus
Female
Humans
Laryngectomy
Larynx, Artificial
Male
Middle Aged
Pharyngeal Diseases
Pharyngeal Muscles
Pharynx
Spasm
Speech Acoustics
Speech, Esophageal
Trachea
Voice Quality
