2013 Volume 64 Issue 3 Pages 194-198
Unilateral recurrent laryngeal palsy frequently affects quality of life in thyroid cancer patients. Medialization thyroplasty (MT) including type I thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction is often attempted to improve hoarseness. We evaluated perceptual voice assessment before and after MT using two questionnaires, the voice-related QOL questionnaire (V-RQOL) and the voice handicap index-10 (VHI-10), in 14 patients. With regard to the V-RQOL, in which the best and the worst scores are 100 and 0, respectively, the average score significantly improved from 30.6 preoperatively to 68.4 postoperatively (p<0.01). With regard to the VHI-10, in which the best and the worst scores are 0 and 40, respectively, the average score significantly improved from 23.4 preoperatively to 13.2 postoperatively (p<0.01). Furthermore, average maximum phonation time also significantly improved from 3.3 seconds to 10.6 seconds (p<0.01). These results indicate that MT achieves acceptable voice satisfaction in patients with unilateral recurrent laryngeal palsy due to thyroid cancer.
