Counseling in Laryngectomy

Pre-operative counselling for laryngectomy patients: a systematic review

“…Published studies included were from the 1970s ( n = 4), 28 – 31 the 1980s ( n = 7), 21 – 27 the 1990s ( n = 5) 16 – 20 and the 2000s ( n = 5), 10 – 13 , 15 with the most recent being published in 2006 10 . Most papers originated from the USA, 10 , 13 , 16 , 18 , 21 , 23 , 25 – 31 although there was one report from Australia, 12 four from the UK, 11 , 15 , 17 , 22 one from Norway, 24 one from France 19 and one from Switzerland 20 . Most authors were ENT surgeons ( n = 10) or speech and language therapists ( n = 8).…”

“…Study designs were predominantly quantitative 10 , 15 , 16 , 20 , 21 , 23 – 25 , 30 or used a mixed methods design 12 , 17 , 22 , 28 , 29 . Data were collected from postal questionnaires, 12 , 15 , 17 , 23 , 25 , 30 interviews 20 , 22 , 24 or both 21 , 28 , 29 .…”

“…Data were collected from postal questionnaires, 12 , 15 , 17 , 23 , 25 , 30 interviews 20 , 22 , 24 or both 21 , 28 , 29 . Other studies involved the use of face-to-face questioning or online questionnaires 10 , 16 . However, sample sizes varied significantly: smaller studies included 18–72 participants 22 , 30 and larger studies had sample sizes of 115–332 20 , 25 .…”

“…The main deficit in the literature was that the term ‘pre-operative counselling’ was not defined, which led to lack of clarity about what this constitutes. Nevertheless, this term was used by 17 of the 21 authors 10 , 12 , 13 , 16 , 18 , 20 – 31…”

“…It was later recognised by Greene that a patient's emotional state may have a negative impact on their rehabilitation outcome 9 . Many authors have since stated the importance of providing patients with information prior to surgery so that they are fully aware of their probable post-operative status 10 – 31…”