Objective and Perceptual Characteristics of the Voice After Endotracheal Intubation in Head and Neck Surgery

Objective and Perceptual Characteristics of the Voice After Endotracheal Intubation in Head and Neck Surgery

Introduction: Possible consequences of endotracheal intubation are post-intubation voice changes.

Hypothesis: Endotracheal intubation during head and neck surgery is associated with objective and perceptual voice disorders.

Research objective: To investigate the short-term and long-term effects of endotracheal intubation on voice quality during head and neck surgery.

Material, subjects, methodology and research design: A prospective observational cohort study that will include patients undergoing surgery and endotracheal intubation lasting up to 3 hours. Adult patients divided into three groups will be included in the research: thyroid surgery, parotid gland surgery and abdominal surgery. Videostroboscopy, perceptual and objective acoustic voice analysis will be recorded before surgery, on the second postoperative day, two weeks and 1 month after surgery.

Expected scientific contribution of the proposed research: The scientific contribution would be an understanding of the risk factors and the connection of voice disorders after endotracheal intubation, as well as the ability to determine differences in this risk in patients undergoing different operations.

study protocol has been published and is attached below

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients scheduled for elective thyroid, head and neck surgery or abdominal surgery
• 18 and 70 years,
• normal preoperative voice status, and
• normal laryngeal status.

Exclusion Criteria:

• <18 years in the time of surgery
• history of previous head and neck operation or radiotherapy
• patients scheduled for head and neck operation that can alter acoustic characteristics of the voice (surgery of the nasal cavity, ear surgery, laryngeal surgery, jaw surgery).
• Patients with preoperatively diagnosed pathologic vocal cord findings (nodules, polyps, vocal cord paralysis),
• patients with postoperative injuries of the vocal cords, recurrent and superior laryngeal nerve,
• patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux,
• patients in whom postoperative evaluation of the voice cannot be performed due to uncooperativeness will also be excluded from the study.