Role of voice rest following laser resection of vocal fold lesions: A randomized controlled trial

Voice rest is often prescribed following phonosurgery by most surgeons despite limited empiric evidence to support its practice. This study assessed the effect of postphonosurgery voice rest on vocal outcomes.

Prospective, randomized controlled trial.

Patients with unilateral vocal fold lesions undergoing CO₂ laser excision were recruited in a prospective manner and randomized into one of two groups: 1) an experimental arm consisting of 7 days of absolute voice rest, or 2) a control arm consisting of no voice rest. The primary outcome measure was the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included aerodynamic measurements (maximum phonation time), acoustic measures (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio), and auditory-perceptual measures. Primary and secondary outcomes were assessed preoperatively and reassessed postoperatively at the 1- and 3-month follow-up. Patient compliance to voice rest instructions were controlled for using subjective and objective parameters.

Thirty patients were enrolled with 15 randomized to each arm of the study. Statistical analysis for the entire cohort showed a significant improvement in the mean preoperative VHI-10 compared to postoperative assessments at 1-month (19.0 vs. 7.3, P < .05) and 3-month (19.0 vs. 6.2, P < .05) follow-up. However, between-group comparisons showed no significant difference in postoperative VHI-10 at either time point. Similarly, secondary outcome measures yielded no significant difference in between-group comparisons.

Our study shows no significant benefit to voice rest on postoperative voice outcomes as determined by patient self-perception, acoustic variables, and auditory-perceptual analysis.

1b CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT02788435 (clinicaltrials.gov) Laryngoscope, 130:1750-1755, 2020.