Several different surgical techniques can be used to refine the voice. The most well-known of these is the Type 4 thyroplasty procedure. In this surgical technique, which is performed under local anesthesia in order to hear the patient’s voice during the operation and to be sure that sufficient thinning is achieved in the voice, it is aimed to lengthen the vocal cords and thus to thin the voice by bringing the 2 large cartilages in the larynx closer to each other with a small incision made in the anterior lower part of the neck. Simultaneously, it is also possible to shave the protruding Adam’s apple in the anterior part of the neck, especially for patients with a demand for gender reassignment.
Oral surgical interventions for voice attenuation have the advantage of naturally not leaving incision marks on the skin. These techniques are also more easily tolerated by patients as they are performed under general anesthesia. For this purpose, two techniques that have become more popular and frequently applied today are Wendler glottoplasty and laser thinning (LAVA). In Wendler glottoplasty, it is aimed to increase the tension of the vocal cords and to thin the voice by sewing the anterior 1/3 parts of the vocal cords to each other. It is a very successful technique and is one of the most preferred surgical procedures for this purpose today. In LAVA, on the other hand, it is aimed to thin the voice by reducing the mass of the vocal cord with the help of laser.
Voice thickening is a surgical intervention in which changes and arrangements are made in the vocal cords, in other words, in the vocal folds, in order to reduce the voice frequency and make the voice thicker. Different surgical techniques can be applied:
It is one of the commonly used techniques. With the help of a small incision made in the lower anterior part of the neck, the vocal fold edges are loosened and the voice pitch / pitch is reduced. In this way, the sound becomes thicker. It is mostly applied under local anesthesia and sufficient thickening is made by ensuring that the patient can hear the configuration of the voice during the operation.
Voice thickening surgeries are mostly painless and a week of voice rest is generally recommended after the operation. It takes 3-5 months for the sound to fully settle.