A Prospective Comparative Analysis to Study the Impact on Voice Changes Following Endoscopic Thyroidectomy

Background: Endoscopic approach has come up as a safe and feasible procedure for thyroidectomy with better cosmetic outcomes. However, concerns over its safety in terms of nerve injury and postoperative voice changes remain. This prospective study evaluated the role of vocal cord function assessment using laryngeal examination and voice analysis in patients who underwent endoscopic hemithyroidectomy either by the trans-oral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) or the bilateral axillobreast approach (BABA). Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive patients were randomly allocated to either of the 2 groups of endoscopic hemithyroidectomy; 19 in TOETVA and 20 in the BABA groups. Vocal cord function was assessed subjectively using the GRBAS scale and objectively by acoustic analysis of parameters such as jitter, shimmer, mean frequency (F0), noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), and maximum phonatory time (MPT) at baseline, postoperative day 10, and 3 months after surgery. Results: There were no significant differences in mean GRBAS scores and values of mean frequency, jitter and shimmer between the 2 groups and on postoperative day 10 and at 3 months compared with baseline. The mean NHR and MPT showed no differences between the 2 procedures. However, there was a significant decrease in their values on day 10 postsurgery, compared with baseline. These values returned to their baseline at 3 months. The other operative parameters were comparable between the 2 groups, except for the shorter mean operative time in the TOETVA group. Conclusions: Perioperative quantitative voice parameters were comparable with no statistically significant difference between the 2 techniques of endoscopic thyroidectomy.