The Voice Performance After Septoplasty With Surgical Efficacy Demonstrated Through Acoustic Rhinometry and Rhinomanometry.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the surgical efficacy of septoplasty using acoustic rhinometry (AR) and anterior rhinomanometry (ARM) and to evaluate the effect of septoplasty on voice performance through subjective voice analysis methods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study enrolled a total of 62 patients who underwent septoplasty with the diagnosis of deviated nasal septum. Thirteen patients with no postoperative improvement versus preoperative period as shown by AR and/or ARM tests and three patients with postoperative complications and four patients who were lost to follow-up were excluded. As a result, a total of 42 patients were included in the study. Objective tests including AR, ARM, acoustic voice analysis and spectrographic analysis were performed before the surgery and at 1 month and 3 months after the surgery. Subjective measures included the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation questionnaire to evaluate surgical success and Voice Handicap Index-30 tool for assessment of voice performance postoperatively, both completed by all study patients.

RESULTS: Among acoustic voice analysis parameters, F0, jitter, Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio values as well as formant frequency (F1-F2-F3-F4) values did not show significant differences postoperatively in comparison to the preoperative period (P > 0.05). Only the shimmer value was statistically significantly reduced at 1 month (P < 0.05) and 3 months postoperatively (P < 0.05) versus baseline. Statistically significant reductions in Voice Handicap Index-30 scores were observed at postoperative 1 month (P < 0.001) and 3 months (P < 0.001) compared to the preoperative period and between postoperative 1 month and 3 months (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: In this study, first operative success of septoplasty was demonstrated through objective tests and then objective voice analyses were performed to better evaluate the overall effect of septoplasty on voice performance. Shimmer value was found to be improved in the early and late postoperative periods.