Post-thyroidectomy dysphonia and swallowing symptoms: The role of cricopharyngeal sphincter

Dear Editor, We read the paper of Kim et al. entitled “Persistent subjective voice symptoms for two years after thyroidectomy” [1]. Authors observed that some voice quality parameters improved from pre-to post-treatment, while others deteriorated such as the Thyroidectomy-related Voice and Symptoms' Questionnaire scores. Voice abuse history in professional users was associated with worse vocal quality after thyroidectomy. We congratulate authors to have investigated this controversial topic through a prospective study. Post-thyroidectomy voice disorders are prevalent in otolaryngological consultations, but this topic is poorly investigated in the current literature [2]. In this letter, we would like to draw attention to an important condition that was not considered in the study, which is the impairment of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) during the surgery.