An Improvised Tracheotomy Speaking Valve

Authors

  • Kirt Areis E. Delovino Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery St. Luke’s Medical Center
  • William S. Lim Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery St. Luke’s Medical Center

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32412/pjohns.v27i2.529

Keywords:

tracheotomy, tracheostomy, speaking valve, speaking device

Abstract

Objective: To design and test an improvised tracheotomy speaking valve fabricated from recycled parts of an anesthesia airway breathing circuit.

Methods:

Design: Surgical Instrumentation

Setting: Tertiary Private Hospital

Subjects: Speaking valves fabricated from discarded anesthesia breathing circuit parts were pilot-tested on 3 patients: one with vocal fold paralysis, another with a supraglottic mass and one post hemi-laryngectomy.

Results:  The improvised tracheotomy speaking valve was inexpensive and relatively easy to assemble. All three patients tolerated speech well through the speaking valve and were pleased to reestablish their means of verbal communication. Maximum Phonation Time (MPT) averaged 8 seconds for all three subjects.

Conclusion:  In our local setting, improving the quality of life of tracheotomized patients should be accessible to all, hence the value of an improvised speaking valve. It provides a more affordable means of restoring speech and because it is made from recycled materials, it is eco-friendly. Our improvised speaking valve is also a cheaper but viable alternative to more expensive commercially available ones.  Clinical trials with standardized feedback questionnaires, multi-observer perceptual evaluation with a system such as the GRBAS and/or vocal acoustic measures in a speech laboratory should be made to assess long term use, efficiency and safety measures.

Keywords: tracheotomy, tracheostomy, speaking valve, speaking device

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Published

2012-12-03

How to Cite

1.
Delovino KAE, Lim WS. An Improvised Tracheotomy Speaking Valve. Philipp J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg [Internet]. 2012 Dec. 3 [cited 2024 Apr. 25];27(2):28-31. Available from: https://pjohns.pso-hns.org/index.php/pjohns/article/view/529

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2012): Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Section

Surgical Innovation and Instrumentation

License

Copyright transfer (all authors; where the work is not protected by a copyright act e.g. US federal employment at the time of manuscript preparation, and there is no copyright of which ownership can be transferred, a separate statement is hereby submitted by each concerned author). In consideration of the action taken by the Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in reviewing and editing this manuscript, I hereby assign, transfer and convey all rights, title and interest in the work, including copyright ownership, to the Philippine Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. (PSOHNS) in the event that this work is published by the PSOHNS. In making this assignment of ownership, I understand that all accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the PSOHNS and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the PSOHNS unless shared under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.