The Role of Vocal Rest After Removal of Benign Lesions From Vocal Cord

The prevailing view among laryngologists is that voice rest after laryngeal surgery is important to ensure a good recovery of the epithelium and lamina propria layers of the vocal cord. Speaking immediately after surgery leads to the formation of an irregular collagen in large quantities of the vocal cords - namely the creation scar tissue. The scarred vocal cords leads to a decrease in its elasticity, which is reflected in poor speech quality. Although this theory, not many works were published in the literature proving the necessity for voice rest after vocal cord surgery.

Several studies have been recently published which claim that there is no need for vocal rest and stress the importance of a moderate voice effort straight after surgery. This need is based on the idea that early mobilization of tissue after surgery led to the creation of a healthy soft tissue architecture.

The investigators hypothesize that there is no role for vocal rest after surgery to remove benign lesions from the vocal cords.

Patients candidate for laryngeal surgery that include removal of a benign vocal cord lesion will be divided into two groups:

• Patients instructed for the conventional post operative voice rest, namely absolute voice rest for a week and another week of relative voice rest (speaking is allowed for 20 minutes a day).
• Patients instructed to speak freely without restrictions after the surgery. those are the study phases: * first visit- preoperative visit.

• First the investigators prove by fiber optic examination that the patient suffers from the scourge of benign vocal cord lesion. Then the patient gets an explanation of the study, fill a demographic questionnaire. Next the patient fills the VHI (voice handicap index) questionnaire - a questionnaire which assesses the impact of the patient voice by 3 measures:emotional,functional and psychosocial. The questionnaire contains 30 questions. Any question dotted between 0-4 by the patient so that a higher score means more bad sound.
• Optical fiber testing is performed. Vocal cords including the lesion are photographed and video files are saved . Stroboscopic test for determining the quality of vibration, movement and closure of the vocal cords.The patient voice is recorded for future determination of the GRBAS (Grade,Roughness, breathiness, asthenia,strain). this index, scored by the laryngologists assesses the patient's voice according to five factors- grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia,strain. Each parameter dotted between 0-3 so a higher score means more bad sound.The last test is objective. The voice recording will undergo computer analysis which determine the following voice objectives : fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic to noise ratio.

Lastly the patient is randomized (by block randomization) to determine to which group the patient belongs.

Patients belonging to the control group (standard post operative voice rest) receive a form where they annotate every day whether they kept on the instructed sound regime. This log will allow the investigators to track the compliance of the patients belonging to the voice rest group.

• Second visit- 3 days post operative

• Execute an optical fiber examination for description and evaluation of the recovery process of the vocal cord.
• Vocal cords including the lesion will be photographed and video files are saved. stroboscopic test for future determination of the quality of vibration, movement and closure of the vocal cods.
• Third visit- 14 days post operative

Same examination as the second visit are performed plus:

• The patient voice will be recorded to determine the GRBAS Index by the laryngologist. recording of the patient's voice for an objective voice analysis evaluation using a computer.

• Forth visit- 1 months post operative. Same examinations as the second visit are performed.
• Fifth visit- 3 months post operative. Same examinations as the second visit are performed plus patient fills VHI questionnaire.
• Sixth visit- 6 months post operative. Same examinations as the fifth visit are performed.

Inclusion criteria

• Patient Over 18 years old suffers a benign vocal cord lesion and candidate for surgical removal . Recruitment will take place in the voice and Swallowing Clinic. Rambam medical center. Israel.

Exclusion criteria

• A patient under 18.
• Demented patient.
• Deaf patient.