Does Voice Therapy after Endolaryngeal Microsurgery Contribute to the Treatment of Vocal Fold Polyp?

The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of voice therapy (VT) to management of patients following surgery for vocal fold polyps.

In this prospective study, two groups were created by randomizing patients diagnosed with vocal fold polyps. Group 1 received only phonosurgery, and group 2 received phonosurgery followed by VT. Subjective test methods conducted before and after treatment were evaluated comparatively. Videolaryngostroboscopy, the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10), and voice analysis parameters, including fundamental frequency variation (vF0), jitter percent (Jitt%), shimmer percent (Shim%), noise-to-harmonic ratio, and maximum phonation time (MPT), were compared before and after treatment.

The data of 40 patients, 15 (37.5%) women and 25 (62.5%) men, were examined in this study. Significant reductions were observed in the pre- and post-treatment values in the Voice Handicap Index-10 and GRBAS scale (p < 0.001). In terms of aerodynamic analysis, a decrease was observed in the S/Z ratio in both groups after treatment. Regarding MPT, a statistically significant increase was observed following treatment in (1) both groups (p < 0.001) and (2) group 2 versus group 1 (p < 0.001). In terms of acoustic voice analysis, both groups showed an increase in fundamental frequency (F0) and a statistically significant decrease in jitter and shimmer values. When comparing these parameter changes, it was observed that group 2 had a statistically significant difference compared to group 1 (F0: p = 0.082; Jitt: p = 0.014; Shim: p = 0.035, respectively).

In this study comparing the outcomes of vocal fold polyp treatment using only surgery versus surgery combined with VT, it was found that the addition of VT to endolaryngeal phonosurgery provided a significant positive contribution.