Laryngectomy Cost in Cape Town

A laryngectomy is a surgical surgery used to remove the voice box or part of it. Your larynx, which connects your mouth, nose, and lungs, is located above your trachea, or windpipe. Your larynx facilitates swallowing, breathing, and speaking.

Depending on the disease's severity and location, the laryngectomy surgeon may remove all or part of the larynx. This treatment greatly greatly impacts the capacity to speak, swallow, and breathe through the mouth and nose.

Patients may need to adjust to new communication methods after a laryngectomy, such as using speech therapy for esophageal speech training. They might also need help breathing through a stoma, which is a neck opening, and their diet might need to be adjusted to account for changes in swallowing.

Types:

There are different types of laryngectomies:

Partial Laryngectomy: This procedure removes only a portion of the larynx, typically used for smaller tumors. Various types of partial laryngectomy surgeries exist, but the goal remains the same: to remove the cancerous part while preserving as much of the larynx as possible.

Supraglottic Laryngectomy: Removes part of the larynx located above the vocal cords. Despite the surgery, you may still retain your normal speaking voice.

Hemilaryngectomy: Treats small cancers of the vocal cords by removing one vocal cord while leaving the others intact. Speech after a hemilaryngectomy may be more limited, but still possible.

Total Laryngectomy: Involves complete removal of the larynx. This significantly affects normal speech, but alternative methods such as mechanical voice devices or esophageal speech training can be used for communication.

Why one needs to have a laryngectomy:

A laryngectomy may be necessary for various reasons, including:

• Laryngeal Cancer
• Laryngeal Fracture
• Severe Larynx Damage
• Chondronecrosis of the Larynx