Objective and subjective changes in voice after endoscopic sinus surgeries in patients with and without nasal polyps

BACKGROUND: Many studies have looked at the effect of functional endoscopic sinus surgeries (FESS) on nasalance, nasal consonant and nasalized vowels. Only two studies investigated the effect of FESS on vocal sound quality and have not found statistically significant changes before and after operations. The aim of this study was to examine the short-term and long-term objective and subjective changes in the vocal quality of patients after FESS, comparing patients with and without nasal polyps.

METHODS: Sixteen patients were recruited for voice analysis during pre-operative, within two weeks and at least three months post-operatively. Subjective questionnaire was used to assess perception of voice changes.

RESULTS: There were no statistically significant changes in the acoustic parameters of patients with nasal polyposis. In patients with CRS without polyps, there was a statistically significant increase in fundamental frequency (F0) in nasal sound during early follow up. The changes in soft phonation index (SPI) values between the two groups were statistically significant during early follow-ups. Only patients with nasal polyposis perceived a subjective change in their voice post-operatively.

CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should inform all patients, especially voice professionals about the possible effects of endoscopic sinus surgeries on their voice quality.