Phonomicrosurgery- What is it?
Phono-microsurgery is a surgical technique using a surgical microscope. This is necessary because the vocal folds have a length of only 10-15mm – that is the diameter of our smallest coin, a 1 cent coin! The mucous membrane layer, which is important for vocalization, is only a fraction of a millimeter thick (more precisely: 0.3 millimeters). Only the finest microsurgical instruments allow gentle surgery within these delicate layers of tissue. In these operations, skill and medical competence are a prerequisite for the best success – and after many thousands of operations, this phonosurgical qualification is guaranteed with us.
Vocal folds are approx. 10-15mm long – that is the size of the diameter of a 1 Cent coin. The very important covering of a vocal fold, the so called lamina propria, is only 0.3mm thick.
Thus, only with highly precise instruments an adequate microsurgery can be performed on these very gentle layers of the vocal folds.
In general anesthesia, a short and painless procedure where patients are totally asleep, we use microscopes with 25x magnification to remove smallest lesions which are mostly in the order of magnitude of less than one millimeter. This is facilitated with the world’s finest instruments which we gathered to achieve optimal microsurgical results. But not only the removal might be important, but the saving of normal tissues and fibers is of highest priority in phonomicrosurgery. Therefore, removal of small lesions like a polyp, nodule, cyst, pseudocyst, epithelial hyperplasia, Reinke’s edema, scarring, papilloma, hematoma, sulcus vocalis, sulcus vergeture, hemangioma, capillary ectasia, contact granuloma, leukoplakia, biofilm et cetera can take a half an hour or more.
The MEDICAL VOICE CENTER has all the techniques and instruments necessary for phono-microsurgery. With instruments developed specifically for phonosurgery, we have access to even better equipment than many other clinics. These instruments and surgical techniques are available not only for operations on singers, but for all our patients.
Furthermore, we developed refined instruments for these surgeries, enabling us to address even the finest lesions in the size of less than a millimeter. These instruments are used not only for singers but for all patients that need finest surgery of their vocal folds.
Although technical equipment is absolutely necessary, the most important factor is the expertise of the phonosurgeon – and having accumulated the experience and knowledge of thousands of surgeries of the vocal folds we guarantee highest expertise.
Advantages:
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Ambulatory surgery
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general anesthesia
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no overnight stay
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operation time most < 1 hour
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Safe and effective
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Lasers can be used
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Indications:
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Polyps
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Cysts
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Reinke’s edema
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Ectatic vessels
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Dysplasia
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Granuloma
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Scar tissue
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Papilloma
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Leukoplakia
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Biofilm
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Sulcus vocalis
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Dysmorphia
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Chronic laryngitis
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Recurrent nerve paralysis
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Spasmodic dysphonia
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Rare diseases