Objective assessment of laryngectomized patients with surgical reconstruction

The assessment of worth of the neoglottic procedure has been, for the most part, subjective in nature. Evaluation by means of sequential objective measures has been developed. The following procedures are employed in our assessment: transcription intelligibility by judges unfamiliar with the passage; rate of speech; relative intensity range; intratracheal air pressure; continuous speech per breath; functional communication profile; weight status; contrast swallow study; swallow-aspiration diary; and tumor status. Data from a patient with a Staffieri neoglottis procedure illustrate the method.