Provoxweb
  • Provoxweb
  • Voice--Speech Rehab
    • Speech Therapy >
      • Introduction
      • Preoperative counseling
      • Outline of voice therapy
      • Important basic principles in voice rehabilitation in prosthetic speech
      • Some points of attention for the 'finishing touch'
      • General aspects of patient instruction
      • Problem solving
      • Conclusion
  • Pulmonary Rehab
    • Introduction
    • Heat and Moisture Exchangers (HME's) >
      • Treatment aspects
      • Prevention aspects
    • Provox HME >
      • Compliance aspects
      • Improvements in compliance
      • Improvements in voicing
      • Early post-operative pulmonary hygiene
      • Breathing resistance
      • Newest Provox HMEs
    • Treatment with inhalation medication
    • Conclusions
    • References

Stenosis of the neopharynx

Problem: the patient has a stenosis of the neopharynx

A stenosis of the neopharynx (mostly influencing swallowing more than voicing) does not interfere with the anterograde replacement of a voice prosthesis, but obviously can be a problem in a retrograde replacement procedure. If a neopharyngeal stenosis is suspected or known, and retrograde replacement is necessary, this is preferably carried out under general anesthesia with concurrent dilatation of the PE-segment. If the stenosis is less prominent, dilatation under local anesthesia and subsequently the required retrograde replacement of the prosthesis may still be possible. Although with the anterograde replacement of a Provox2 prosthesis a pharyngeal stenosis is not causing replacement problems, its dilatation might still be necessary for other (swallowing) reasons.

© The Netherlands Cancer Institute - 2003-18; ISBN 90-75575-05-X