Experience with secondary voice prostheses implantations at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the Olomouc University Hospital in 2016–2021

Abstract

Summary Introduction: Total laryngectomy is one of the treatment options for patients with advanced laryngeal cancer. As a result of this procedure, patients lose their capacity to create natural voice. It is associated with a psychological and social stigma. Currently, implantation of a voice prosthesis is the most modern and preferred option for voice restoration. Voice prostheses are either implanted primarily during total laryngectomy or secondarily after the surgery. At our workplace, we started the secondary implantation of voice prostheses in May 2016. Methodology: The retrospective study aims to evaluate the average interval of voice prosthesis replacements, the frequency, and reasons for replacements in patients with a secondarily implanted voice prosthesis at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the Olomouc University Hospital from May 2016 to June 2021. Results: We performed a total of 94 exchanges in the group of 17 patients. The average lifespan of a voice prosthesis in our study is 127 days. The most frequent indication for prosthesis replacement was leakage in 52% of all cases. Conclusion: The lifespan of prostheses in our group is longer than the one reported in the literature. Leakage is the most common indication for prosthesis replacement. Key words voice prosthesis – total laryngectomy – laryngeal cancer