ThyVoice

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  ThyVoice - a national observational cohort study of voice outcome after thyroid surgery

• IRAS ID

  197725

• Contact name

  Radu MIHAI

• Contact email

  Radu.Mihai@ouh.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Joint Research Office

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Thyroid surgery is the most common endocrine operation, with over 10,000 procedures being performed annually in the UK. Voice changes represent the most significant postoperative complication after thyroid surgery as it can impact on patients' social and professional life.
  There is significant inconsistency in the estimated incidence of voice problems after thyroid surgery. Historically a risk of 1-2% has been quoted for the possibility of injuring the nerve that controls the mobility of vocal cords. Many clinicians and patients extrapolate these figures as representing the risk of voice changes. This is however a significant underestimate of the problem as patients' surveys and large cohort studies have suggested that up to one third of patients might be aware of voice changes after thyroid surgery.

  We propose to undertake a large observational non-interventional study aiming to recruit patients operated in a variety of settings (large University centres, small DGHs, general surgeons and ENT surgeons) during a 12-months period throughout the UK. No treatment will be offered to patients and their clinical management will not be affected by the participation in this study.

  All surgeons members of professional associations related to thyroid surgery (i.e. BAETS and ENT-UK) will be invited to contribute. This should allow the collection of a large volume of information regarding the outcome of thyroid surgery performed in UK.

  The aim is to provide accurate information before obtaining informed consent. Such data could also influence the provision of voice therapy services in the future.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/EM/0070

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Feb 2016

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion