Methods of Speech Mastering After Total Laryngectomy

Mila Bunijevac^1,3*, Neda Milosevic^2,3 & Dragan Stojiljkovic-Causevac^2,3

¹Public Health Hospital “Sveti Vracevi”, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
²Center of Speech Pathology - Logomedica, Belgrade, Serbia
³College of Social Work, Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Belgrade, Serbia

Dr. Mila Bunijevac, Public Health Hospital “Sveti Vracevi”, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina & College of Social Work, Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Belgrade, Serbia.

Keywords: Total Laryngectomy; Vocal Rehabilitation; Esophageal Speech; Electromechanical Speech; Tracheezophageal Speech

Abstract

Total laryngectomy disrupts the most basic functions of life, speech, breathing and swallowing of food. This intervention may have a negative impact on the physical, functional and emotional state of the patient, which impairs their quality of life. Initially, when all of the laryngectomies began to work, quality of life was not given any significance, and they were implemented as the ultimate solution in the patients. The last 30-35 years have seen great progress in the rehabilitation of laryngectomized patients and an increase in awareness of the quality of life of patients in oncology, which is of great importance for both patients and doctors. There are three models of speech mastering: esophageal, electro-androidal and tracheo-esophageal speech. Mastering some of the speech models is strongly associated with improving the quality of life and returning faster to the social and working environment.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).