Voice Telerehabilitation in Iatrogenic Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: From Necessity to Opportunity in the COVID-19 Time

Objective

To evaluate results of telerehabilitation (TR) during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic for the treatment of dysphonia caused by permanent post-thyroidectomy unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP).

Methods

Forty subjects with post-thyroidectomy UVFP (onset <1 month) underwent TR. Videostrobolaryngoscopy, acoustic and perceptual voice analysis and patient self-assessment were carried out in person before, at the end of TR and 6 months later.

Results

Twenty-five subjects spontaneously recovered full vocal fold motility at some time during follow-up, whereas 15 had a permanent UVFP at the end of the follow-up period. These subjects constituted our study group. At the early posttherapy control 10/15 subjects (66.6%) showed a complete glottal closure, while in 5/15 (33.3%) a glottal gap remained (P = 0.03). These results did not change 6 months after TR. At the late posttherapy control the maximum phonation time improved significantly (P = 0.02). Both post-therapy Voice Handicap Index scores were significantly lower than the pre-therapy ones (P = 0.04). Grade, Breathiness, and Asthenia parameters of the Grade–Roughness–Breathiness–Asthenia–Strain scale improved 6 months after TR (P < 0.05). The number of voice signals suitable for acoustic analysis increased significantly after therapy. Finally, 87% of patients were satisfied with TR.

Conclusions

With careful patient selection, TR may be considered as a promising method for voice therapy in postthyroidectomy UVFP.