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Prevention of aspiration following recurrent dislodgement of voice prosthesis: a patient's innovation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2008

M Masaany ,
M B Marina ,
A Asma  and
A Sani
M Masaany
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
M B Marina*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A Asma
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A Sani
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
*
Address for correspondence: Dr M B Marina, Department of ORL-HNS, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail1: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective:

To demonstrate a simple, practical, cheap method of preventing potentially fatal aspiration of a dislodged voice prosthesis; this method was developed by a laryngectomised patient.

Case report:

A patient diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx underwent total laryngectomy. Upon completion of radiotherapy, a tracheoesophageal fistula was created and a voice prosthesis inserted to enable voice restoration. Unfortunately, the patient presented subsequently with repeated episodes of dislodgement and an episode of potentially fatal aspiration of the voice prosthesis, despite various measures taken by the surgeons to overcome the problem. The patient subsequently developed a method enabling him to retrieve the voice prosthesis himself should it become dislodged. He attached a ring to the prosthesis, which was larger in diameter than the tracheal stoma, thus preventing ingestion or recurrence of aspiration.

Conclusion:

To our knowledge, this is the first report in the world literature of this form of innovation, created by a laryngectomised patient, to overcome the problem of aspiration or ingestion of a dislodged voice prosthesis.

Keywords

LaryngectomyTracheoesophageal SpeechVoice ProsthesisAspiration
Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 123 , Issue 6 , June 2009 , pp. 680 - 682
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2008

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References

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