Front-loading of Groningen voice prosthesis in alaryngeal patients requiring prosthetic replacement

The Groningen voice prosthesis can be successfully replaced using the back-loading system. We have attempted to minimize patient stress by developing a front-loading system that does not require insertion of the introducer via the tracheo-oesophageal shunt to the oral cavity or the mesopharyngeal anaesthetization regularly used with the back-loading system. Using our front-loading system, the existing prosthesis is removed, then the posterior portion of the replacement Groningen prosthesis is grasped by a pair of nasal forceps with a small jaw to make an acute angle and inserted into the oesophageal cavity through the shunt at a stroke. All 20 patients who underwent forward-loading replacement of a Groningen (n = 17) or Blom-Singer (n = 3) valve with a Groningen valve tolerated the procedure well and experienced no complications except, in some cases, for minor bleeding just after insertion of the prosthesis. The procedure was completed within 30 seconds.