Voice Restoration After Total Laryngectomy

The ability to speak and communicate vocally is a unique human characteristic that is often taken for granted but is fundamental to many activities of daily living. Loss of voice after total laryngectomy can lead to a serious decrease in quality of life and can precipitate significant frustration over the inability to communicate effectively. There are 3 main methods of voice restoration: esophageal speech, usage of the electrolarynx, and tracheal-esophageal puncture for tracheal-esophageal speech, which can be performed primarily or secondarily. Although all 3 methods have potential benefits, the gold standard is tracheal-esophageal speech.