A review of our experience in phonosurgery in children

Dysphonia is a common problem in children, especially those of school age. Exploration of vocal folds is often difficult and less accurate in children. The most frequent lesions found in children with chronic dysphonia are vocal nodules, followed by epidermoid cysts and other congenital lesions, such as sulci and mucosal bridges. The treatment is multidisciplinary and it is fundamentally based on vocal rehabilitation. We indicate surgical treatment in children older than 9 years of age for whom the problem persists after rehabilitation, especially if we suspect a congenital lesion of the vocal fold.

We present a retrospective study of paediatric phonosurgery performed by the Vocal Pathology Unit of our Hospital over a period of 9 years (2005-2013). Fifty-one children were included, ranging in age from 9 to 16 years old. We analyzed the distribution of the different lesions, both congenital and acquired. We evaluated the results by subjective evaluation by the children's relatives.

We obtained a distribution of 76% (n=39) of congenital lesions and 24% (n=12) of acquired lesions. After surgery, there was a global percentage of improvement of 90%, with better results in cases of vocal nodules, without statistical significance.

The evaluation of the results of this surgery is controversial and in this study is done with a single question survey administered to relatives. We found an overall result of improvement in 90% of operated cases, without any complications. We obtained better results in vocal nodules, although not reaching statistical significance.