Primary versus secondary tracheoesophageal puncture for speech rehabilitation in total laryngectomy: long-term results with indwelling voice prosthesis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term use of indwelling Blom-Singer voice prosthesis (VP) for vocal rehabilitation of patients submitted to total laryngectomy (TL). The influence of the timing (primary or secondary) of tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP), use of radiotherapy (xRT), patient age, and length of follow-up were studied to evaluate the success rate of VP use.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective clinical study in a tertiary referral center. Seventy-one patients were submitted to TL and rehabilitated with indwelling VP. All patients were evaluated for vocal functional issues by an otolaryngologist and a speech pathologist at 1 month, then at every 3 months up to 1 year, and then at every 6 months after 1 year of follow-up. The relative data on time of placement of VP, time of VP use, xRT, age, length of follow-up, and life span of each VP were recorded during the follow-up.

RESULTS: Eighty-seven percent of the patients underwent primary and 13%, secondary TEP. The follow-up varied from 12 to 87 months, with an average of 38 months for primary and 51 months for secondary TEP. Fifty-nine percent of the patients were submitted to xRT. The general rate of success was 94%, with 97% for primary and 78% (P = 0.07) for secondary TEP; after 2 years, the success rate was 96% for primary and 75% for secondary (P = 0.07) TEP. The use of xRT and patient age had no influence on the success of VP use for primary and secondary TEP, independently of the length of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: The success rate of voice rehabilitation with VP was 94%. In primary TEP, the success rate was 97%, whereas in secondary TEP it was 78%; 2 years later, it was 96% and 75%, respectively. A tendency for a higher success rate in voice rehabilitation after TL was observed in primary TEP. The use of xRT and age of patient had no influence on the success rate.