Lakeshore Professional Voice Center, Lakeshore Ear, Nose and Throat Center, St. Clair Shores, Michigan; School of Communication Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Lakeshore Professional Voice Center, Lakeshore Ear, Nose and Throat Center, St. Clair Shores, Michigan; Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
J Voice. 2014 Mar;28(2):216-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2013.09.003. Epub 2013 Dec 4.
In this retrospective case study, we report the apparent clinical effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in combination with voice therapy (VT) for rehabilitating dysphonia secondary to suspected superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) weakness in two female patients. Both patients failed or plateaued with traditional VT but had significant improvement with the addition of NMES of the cricothyroid muscle and SLN using a VitalStim unit. Stimulation was provided simultaneously with voice exercises based on musical phonatory tasks. Both acoustic analysis and endoscopic evaluation demonstrated important improvements after treatment. In the first patient, the major change was obtained within the primo passaggio region; specifically, a decrease in voice breaks was demonstrated. In the second patient, an improvement in voice quality (less breathiness) and vocal range were the most important findings. Additionally, each patient reported a significant improvement in their voice complaints. Neuromuscular laryngeal electrical stimulation in combination with vocal exercises might be a useful tool to improve voice quality in patients with SLN injury.
在这项回顾性病例研究中，我们报告了神经肌肉电刺激（NMES）联合语音治疗（VT）在两名女性疑似上喉神经（SLN）损伤所致声嘶患者中的明显临床疗效。两名患者经传统 VT 治疗失败或效果停滞，但在使用 VitalStim 仪行环甲肌和 SLN 的 NMES 治疗后，均有显著改善。刺激与基于音乐发声任务的语音练习同时进行。治疗后，声学分析和内镜评估均显示出重要的改善。在第一例患者中，主要变化发生在第一发声区；具体来说，声音中断减少。在第二例患者中，最重要的发现是嗓音质量（呼吸音减少）和音域的改善。此外，每位患者均报告称其嗓音抱怨有明显改善。神经肌肉喉电刺激联合嗓音练习可能是改善 SLN 损伤患者嗓音质量的有用工具。
