Impact of adenotonsillectomy on vocal emission in children ^{☆ ☆☆}

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION:   Adenotonsillectomy is the most common surgery performed by otolaryngologists in pediatric age, and one of the most frequently asked questions about the postoperative period is whether there is a potential for change in vocal pattern of these children.

OBJECTIVE:   To evaluate the impact of adenotonsillectomy in the voice emission pattern of children with hypertrophy of palatine and pharyngeal tonsils.

METHODS:   This is a prospective study in which we carried out perceptual auditory assessments and acoustic analysis of 26 children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy at three time points: before surgery, one month and three months after surgery. The following acoustic parameters were estimated using the Praat software: fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-noise ratio.

RESULTS:   A statistically significant change was found between shimmer and harmonic-noise ratio during vowel /u/ production between the preoperative and 1st month postoperative time points. No significant differences were detected for acoustic parameters between preoperative analysis and that of the 3rd month post-operation.

CONCLUSION:   Transient changes in acoustic parameters occur in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy submitted to adenotonsillectomy, progressing to normalization in the 3rd postoperative month.

Keywords:
Voice; Tonsillectomy; Adenoidectomy; Pharyngeal tonsil; Palatine tonsil