Alaryngeal speech and development of an internal tracheopharyngeal fistula

Excellent speech can be produced by diverting expired pulmonary air to the pharynx through a tracheopharyngeal fistula. This study contributes basic information regarding the selection and fate of autogenous skin-lined tubes created for this purpose in a standardized fashion in pigs. Our specific objectives were to determine (1) the best cutaneous autograft for constructing a 6- to 7-cm skin-lined tube, (2) the airflow resistance of surviving skin-lined tubes, and (3) the effect of salivary contamination of the survival of tube grafts.