Effetti dell'adenotonsillectomia sulle qualita acustiche e percettive della voce

The adenotonsillectomy is the most common surgical treatment in children. Removal of the hypertrophic tissue produces perceptive changes in the voice, which are immediately noticed by parents and regarded as a complication of the operation. Thirteen patients ranging in age from 4 to 16 years were therefore subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis of vocal function, performed 90 days before and 3 months after adenotonsillectomy. Quantitative analysis included laryngeal characteristics (fundamental vocal frequency) and evaluation of supralaryngeal characteristics (F1-F2-F3). The values for F0 and F1-F2-F3 were obtained by a computerized analysis system (Speech Audio Lab). Perceptive rating was based on the analysis of continuous speech samples using a voice profile test as well as a questionnaire given to parents to evaluate perception of their child's voice. The results showed that soft tissue removal in adenotonsillectomy has an impact on qualitative and quantitative features of vocal function measured 3 months after surgery. Both the qualitative evaluation, performed by a qualified speech pathologist and via the questionnaire, and the quantitative analysis, obtained through the Speech Audio Lab, emphasized that adenotonsillectomy leads to important changes in voice production, especially for formant F3. As this formant represents orbicularis muscle activity, the changes in this parameter should be due to the restoration of muscle tone after adenotonsillectomy in patients who were oral breathers because of adenoid and tonsils hypertrophy