Voice outcomes following endolaryngeal surgery; are we achieving our aims?

Objective To determine voice outcomes in endolaryngeal surgery. Methods Prospective assessment of patients undergoing endolaryngeal surgery in one head and neck team in North Glasgow from 2007 to 2014. Each patient completed a VoiSS (the Voice Symptom Scale) questionnaire at pre-assessment and post-endolaryngeal surgery. Per-operatively, the aim of the procedure was recorded from a choice of seven options in addition to the clinical conditions and the procedure. Results One thousand and sixty-six patient episodes were recorded. Thirty-two had incomplete data at pre-assessment and were excluded. Of the remainder, 703 (68%) had complete paired data sets. 'To improve voice' (n = 169, 24%) and 'to achieve a biopsy with no deterioration in voice' (n = 185, 26%) categories had significant outcomes in keeping with the operative aims. Conclusion This study demonstrated that it is possible to assess patient reported voice outcomes in universal heterogeneous endolaryngeal surgery cohort over a prolonged period. The voice outcomes were in keeping with the stated aims of the endolaryngeal surgical procedures.