Effect of voice therapy in sulcus vocalis: A single case study

Abstract

BackgroundSulcus vocalis is a structural deformity of the vocal ligament. It is the focal invagination of the epithelium deeply attaching to the vocal ligament. There is a dearth of literature on the outcome of voice therapy in sulcus vocalis condition.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study was to document voice characteristics of sulcus vocalis and the secondary objective was to establish the efficacy of voice therapy in a patient with sulcus vocalis.MethodA trial of voice therapy was given to the client who was diagnosed as having sulcus vocalis. Boon’s facilitation techniques were used in voice therapy along with other techniques such as breath holding and push and pull approach prior to surgery. Acoustic, aerodynamic, perceptual, quantitative measures of voice quality and self-rating measurements were performed before and after voice therapy.ResultsImprovement was noticed in 10/10 acoustic, 4/4 aerodynamic, perceptual, dysphonia severity index and voice handicap index scores, which hinted that voice therapy can be an option critically for clients with sulcus vocalis in the initial stage.ConclusionVoice therapy showed promising improvement in the study and it must be recommended as the initial treatment option before any surgical management.

Effectiveness of Voice Therapy in Organic and Functional Voice Disorders

“…Rajasudhakar tarafından 1 olgu üzerinden ses terapisinin etkinliği F0, pertürbasyon parametreleri, harmonik oranları, Ses Handikap İndeksi [Voice Handicap Index (VHI)] kullanılarak değerlendirilmiş ve F0 değerinde düşüş, jitter ve shimmerde düşüş, harmonik oranında artış ve VHI'da düşüş bildirilmiştir. 13 Miaśkiewicz ve ark. ise ses terapisi ile cerrahi tedavinin kombinasyonunun daha başarılı sonuçlar verdiğini savunmuşlardır.…”

Vocal fold sulci – what are the current options for and outcomes of treatment?

“…Voice therapy shows to be effective in some cases of sulcus vocalis by minimizing vocal fold strain, developing compensatory voice changes and augmenting vocal efficiency [35]. This intervention should be recommended to all patients as the initial treatment option since it may improve voice symptoms with positive results regardless of whether the patient will receive surgical treatment or not [23].…”

Sulcus Vocalis and Benign Vocal Cord Lesions: Is There Any Relationship?

“…Several therapeutic strategies, surgical and non-surgical, can be chosen since today there is no consensus about the best therapy. Voice therapy can be accepted in the first instance [13,14]; however, when the speech-therapy treatment is ineffective and functional limitations and worse quality of voice occur, a surgical treatment can be proposed: medialization laryngoplasty [15,16], pulsed laser treatment [17,18], vocal fold injections [19][20][21] or autologous tissue implantation [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. To date, the latter seems to be the best therapeutic choice for the success of vocal cord flexibility and for long-term outcomes.…”