Voice Disorders Following Thyroidectomy

To determine differences in voice disorders in patients after thyroidectomy, with recurrent laryngeal nerve preservation, divided into 2 groups, those who underwent lobectomy (LO) vs patients who underwent total thyroidectomy (TT).

In our prospective study, we compared subjective and objective parameters of voice disorders. Our study included 61 subjects who underwent thyroidectomy (n (LO) = 31, n (TT) = 30) at the Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery University Hospital Center Zagreb. The research was conducted at four time points: 1st measurement-7 days before surgery, 2nd measurement-between the 7th and 10th day after surgery, 3rd measurement-3 months after surgery, and 4th measurement-6 months after surgery. Subjective voice disorders were assessed based on the GRBAS scale, objective through acoustic voice analysis, and quality of life was graded using the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scale.

Statistically significant results were obtained for parameters jitter in the 3rd postoperative period (LO 0.4 +- 0.18 vs TT 0.5 +- 0.18, P = 0.028) and shimmer in the 1st postoperative period (LO 10.4 +- 3.55 vs TT 13.6 +- 5.34, P = 0.007). Marginal statistically significant result was obtained for the shimmer in the 2nd postoperative period (LO 7.3 +- 3.50 vs TT 9.3 +- 4.70, P = 0.071). Other measured parameters of the acoustic analysis and the VHI scale did not show a statistically significant result. GRBAS scale analysis showed statistically significant result for the following parameters: hoarseness in the 1st postoperative measurement (LO 1.2 +- 0.45 vs TT 1.5 +- 0.68, P = 0.045), roughness in the 1st postoperative measurement (LO 0.9 +- 0.43 vs TT 1.3 +- 0.52, P = 0.002), asthenic voice in the 1st postoperative measurement (LO 0.1 +- 0.30 vs TT 0.4 +- 0.56, P = 0.023), and voice tension in the 1st postoperative measurement (LO 1.0 +- 0.45 vs TT 1.5 +- 0.78, P = 0.006).

Based on our results, patients who underwent TT exhibit a more pronounced subjective and objective voice disorder compared with those who underwent LO in the early postoperative period, this difference diminished over time.