Impact of Manual Therapy on Laryngeal Function Following Total Thyroidectomy

Conditions

• Total Thyroidectomy

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Anterior Neck Manual Therapy — BEHAVIORAL
  Manual massage applied to the anterior neck, including hyolaryngeal elevators, depressors, sternocleidomastoid.
• Pain Neuroscience Education — BEHAVIORAL
  Description of how the pain system works from a neurobiological level, discussing the biopsychosocial model that influences pain.
• Neck Stretches — BEHAVIORAL
  Bilateral cervical side bending, cervical extension and bilateral rotational neck stretches held for 20 seconds x3.
• Scar massage — BEHAVIORAL
  Digital manipulation of the scar itself in circles.
• Voice Exercises — BEHAVIORAL
  Stemple Voice Exercises
• Placebo Anterior Neck Manual Therapy — BEHAVIORAL
  Will apply extremely light manual contact to the anterior neck, including hyolaryngeal elevators, depressors, sternocleidomastoid.
• Placebo Pain Neuroscience Education — BEHAVIORAL
  Will discuss how pain will as a result of the surgical intervention.
• Placebo Neck Stretches — BEHAVIORAL
  Will ask patient to look down as a neck stretch held for 20 seconds x3.

Study Details

In this clinical trial, the investigators are seeking to learn if a course of voice therapy, including neck massage, stretches and pain science education in addition to voice exercise and scar massage will effectively treatment patient complaints of swallowing or voice changes after total thyroidectomy as compared to voice exercise and scar massage alone. The main questions it aims to answer are: Will neck massage, stretches and pain science education reduce patient complaints of swallowing changes after total thyroidectomy? Will neck massage, stretches and pain science education reduce patient complaints of voice changes after total thyroidectomy? Will neck massage, stretches and pain science education reduce patient complaints of scar tethering and quality changes after total thyroidectomy? Will neck massage, stretches and pain science education improve quality of life after total thyroidectomy? Participants will: Participate in 4 visits with the participant's endocrine/laryngology surgeon. One prior and 3 after surgery for endoscopic evaluation and tests. Participate in 5 Speech-Language Pathology Sessions for intervention exercises and tests. One prior and 4 after surgery. Complete a journal of the participant's Home Exercise Practice

Key Dates

Start date

Jun 3, 2024

Status verified

Jun 2025

Primary completion

Dec 31, 2027

Completion

Dec 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Arms

• Active Comparator: Neck Manual, Stretches, Pain Neuroscience Education with Voice Exercise and Scar Massage Arm
  Patients will receive direct manual massage to the anterior neck, general neck stretches and pain neuroscience education along with voice exercises and scar massage with a trained Speech-Language Pathologist
• Placebo Comparator: Voice Exercises and Scar Massage with placebo Manual/Stretching and Pain Education
  Patients will be given voice exercise and scar massages with a trained Speech Language Pathologist, alongside placebo manual/stretching and placebo pain education.

Primary Outcome Measure

Acoustic measures of voice clarity [ Time Frame: Baseline, 1 year ]

Central Contacts

• Claire W Ligon, M.Ed.
  434-390-6387
  [email protected]
• Vaninder Dhillon, MD
  925-360-5939
  [email protected]

Locations (2)

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