Long-Lasting Voice-Related Symptoms in Patients Without Vocal Cord Palsy After Thyroidectomy.

BACKGROUND: Some patients complain of long-lasting voice symptoms after thyroid surgery without objective vocal fold pathology. We assessed the factors that may influence voice symptoms more than 12 months after thyroidectomy.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 68 patients from July 2010 to May 2012. The voices of all patients were analyzed before and after thyroid surgery (2 weeks and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months after surgery). According to the recovery of postoperative voice symptoms, patients were divided into two groups: the non-recovery group and the recovery group. Voice symptoms were measured using a thyroidectomy-related voice questionnaire (TVQ). We compared voice analysis data for each group and investigated the factors related to long-lasting postoperative voice symptoms.

RESULTS: Forty-nine patients were included in the recovery group, and 19 patients were included in the non-recovery group. No differences in sex ratio, tumor size, and surgical extent were found between the groups. However, the proportion of professional voice users (odds ratio 4.121; 95% confidence interval 0.983-17.267; p < 0.043) was significantly higher in the non-recovery group. The cutoff score of the TVQ, at 2 months after thyroid surgery, for the differentiation of the recovery and non-recovery groups was 25, and the sensitivity and specificity values were 84.2 and 87.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Professional voice users may be presented long-lasting voice symptoms after thyroid surgery. The cutoff TVQ score of 25, at 2 months after thyroid surgery, may be a guideline for counseling patients who have voice symptoms.