| Abstract Title | Troubleshooting Perioperative Care for the Professional Voice User |
|---|---|
| Submission Category | Speech Language Pathology |
| Presentation Type | Workshop |
| Willing to Present as Poster? | No |
| Abstract | Introduction: The overarching goal of this workshop is to provide voice professionals with a variety of valuable tools to support their clients who are undergoing surgical care for benign vocal fold lesions. Benign vocal fold lesions (BVFLs) are acquired structural anomalies of the vocal folds, and these are primarily a result of excessive vocal load or phonotrauma. Provided that appropriate behavioral changes are made, after therapeutic resolution or surgical removal, these are not regarded as recurrent. Voice therapy plays a crucial role in this aspect. Professional voice users are unfortunately at higher risk for vocal injury due to increased, and often unrealistic, vocal demands (Childs, 2022). The decision to undergo Microdirect Laryngeal surgery for BVFLs should be taken with great care, therefore the perioperative process is essential in ensuring successful surgical outcomes and reducing future risk of injury. (Rubin & Codino, 2019) Methods/Design: This interactive workshop will provide attendees with tools to aid in rehabilitation throughout each step of the perioperative process. Audience members will be invited to interact through hands-on demonstrations of clinician friendly acoustic assessment, semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, and resonant voice therapy exercises. Discussion points will include: navigating the entirety of the singer's physiologic pitch range, providing step-by-step instructions for return to full voice demands, and monitoring of odynophonia, vocal strain or changes in voice quality. Audience participation will be encouraged through frequent open discussion points. Case studies will be implemented to further demonstrate the implementation of these tools and elucidate vocal rest expectations through the perioperative process. Results/Conclusions: Participants will leave this workshop with a variety of rehabilitative tools that will assist the professional voice user undergoing surgical care for BVFLs. Participants will also gain knowledge regarding pre- and post-operative expectations for BVFLs, allowing participants to assist the performing voice user in making informed decisions regarding surgical care. References: Childs, L. F., D’Oto, A., Beams, D. R., Hynan, L., & Mau, T. (2022). Association of genre of singing and phonotraumatic vocal fold lesions in singers. The Laryngoscope, 133(7), 1683–1689. https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.30414 Rubin, A. D., & Codino, J. (2019). The art of caring for the professional singer. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, 52(4), 769–778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2019.03.019 |
| First Name | Austin |
| Last Name | Collum |
