A Subjective and Acoustic Analysis on Voice Change after Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Park, Hong Seok; Choi, Jang Won; Kim, Yang Jae; Kim, Young Joong; Koo, Soo Kweon; Kwon, Soon Bok

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Some chronic sinusitis patients complain that voice change, which occurs during surgeries such as endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), can lead to changes in the vocal organ. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of ESS on voice by questionnaire and voice analysis.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
Thirty patients (male 15, female 15) who had underwent ESS were enrolled. All patients had sinusitis confirmed by preoperative CT scan. We analyzed subjective voice impairment by way of questionnaire (Korean-Version of Voice Handicap Index, KVHI) and objective voice impairment by Computerized Speech Laboratory one day preceding and at one month following the surgery. Finally, the subjective impairment of voice was analyzed by subjective questionnaire at postoperative 6 months. In objective analysis, we analysis 11 ESS cases on the formant frequencies of five vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/) and three nasal consonants (/namu/, /nuna/, /umma/).
RESULTS
In the questionnaire (KVHI), there was a little change in the functional, physical and emotional field but the results were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In the voice analysis, the first formant frequencies of /a/, /u/, the third formant frequency of /o/ of vowel and /a/ of /namu/ of nasal consonant were significantly increased postoperatively compared to those of the preoperative status (p<0.05). However, there was no major change. There was no subjective voice impairment at 6 months after operation.
CONCLUSION
After ESS, some voice impairment were observed in KVHI and some formant frequencies were increased in the objective voice analysis but without serious major voice changes. We conclude that ESS is relatively safe from voice point of view; however, for some professional voice users, particular attention needs to be paid regarding fine voice changes.