Attaining functional esophageal speech.

From the records of the Veterans Administration Hospital and the American Cancer Society, 357 patients who had undergone laryngectomy had their conditions evaluated retrospectively to see if they had acquired alaryngeal speech. Despite the efforts of highly qualified speech pathologists and the favorable implications of previous reports, only 24.4% of the entire patient population achieved functional esophageal speech. The addition of other treatment modalities did not substantially affect the results. It is concluded that if obtaining esophageal speech is the primary goal in successful rehabilitation of the alaryngeal patient, then there is a profound need to reassess the previous directions in restoration of postlaryngectomy communication.