Changes in Acoustic Parameters of Voice After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Patients with Nasal Polyposis

Our aim was to evaluate acoustic voice analysis of patients diagnosed with nasal polyps before and after endoscopic sinus surgery. Forty-three patients diagnosed with nasal polyposis who had undergone endoscopic sinus surgery were included in this prospective study. Patients were divided into three groups according to the stage of nasal obstruction before the surgery. Acoustic voice analyses were performed on each patient before the endoscopic sinus surgery and six weeks following the surgery with the multi-dimensional voice program. Jitter, shimmer, F₀ frequency, and noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) parameters were obtained for acoustic analysis. Our investigation showed that Jitter, shimmer and NHR values decreased, and F₀ value increased in the postoperative period in patients that had a partial nasal obstruction before the surgery. Non-significant increases were also observed in these four parameters after the surgery in cases with total or near-total nasal obstruction. We also found that the postoperative changes in shimmer values between the Stage III patients and the patients in other stages were statistically significant (P = 0.027). Voice changes that became more marked with increasing stages of the nasal polyposis. According to our results, patients should be informed of the possible alterations in speech following major surgical interventions on the paranasal sinuses.