The Groningen valve voice prosthesis in Sheffield: a 4-year review

The Groningen valve was first used in Sheffield in 1986 in a patient who underwent laryngectomy for malignant disease. Since then a further 21 patients have made use of this device, 17 of whom underwent insertion at the time of surgery. All patients were male, two patients have since died and the median length of follow-up to date has been 22.0 (range 2-41) months. Prostheses were replaced mainly under general anaesthesia if they leaked or resulted in difficult phonation. A total of 73 valve insertions have been performed with a median time of 4.0 (range 0.25-27) months between each. Of the 15 men in whom the prosthesis is currently in use, speech was generally good-excellent. The Groningen valve provides a highly acceptable means of obtaining vocalization after laryngectomy in the patients in this series.