AN OBJECTIVE LOOK INTO CHANGES IN VOICE POST THYROIDECTOMY DUE TO EXTERNAL BRANCH OF SUPERIOR LARYNGEAL NERVE INJURY - A CLINICAL STUDY

Voice dysfunction after thyroidectomy is known to be a major concern for the surgeons. Prevalence of injury to EBSLN (External branch of superior laryngeal nerve) has been reported to be 58%, leading to enumerable voice changes clinically. Identification of Injury to EBSLN is often challenging. We used pitch, jitter, shimmer as basic acoustic measures and to analyze and describe acoustics. Using 'PRAAT' standardized software we assessed the outcome of EBSLN after 6 weeks of surgery. To determine subjective and objective cha Aims: nges in measures of voice function caused due to EBSLN injury during thyroidectomy. This Cross-sectional descriptive study evaluated 50 Methodology: patients presenting with thyroid swelling to the ENT OPD in a tertiary hospital in Karnataka, who underwent thyroid surgery. Subjective interview and Voice analysis was done using PRAAT Software pre- and post-surgery. Of 50 patients evaluated, 2 patients had easy voice Results: fatigue and decreased pitch after surgery. Perceptual postoperative analysis showed 22%, 48% and 14% had hoarse, harsh and breathy voice respectively. Objective postoperative analysis shows 42% (p = 0.001) had increased Jitter and Shimmer parameters. The overall incidence of EBSLN injury was found to be 84% (p = 0.001). The Subjective and Objective voice measures show statistically significant changes in the aco Conclusion: ustic voice parameters with no subjective perception of voice change in majority of patients post-surgery. Along with multi- dimensional Voice analysis this protocol can serve as a useful adjuvant to evaluate and correlate long-term outcomes of EBSLN injury.