The Effect of Cold Vapor on Sore Throat and Dysphagia in the Early Postoperative Period After Suspension Laryngoscopy

Suspension laryngoscopy (SL) is a surgical procedure that is widely applied in the diagnosis and treatment of many benign or malignant diseases of the vocal cords and allows bimanual surgery of the endolarynx (Larner et al., 2019). In suspension laryngoscopy, a significant force is exerted on the tongue and neck tissues due to the abutment mechanism used to visualize the larynx and pharynx, which are located deeper than the oral cavity. This force causes symptoms such as sore throat, dysphagia, paresis, cough, taste disorder, oral injury, and hoarseness in the postoperative period (Larner et al., 2019; Tsang et al., 2020; Taliercio et al., 2017).In the literature, it has been reported that patients experience sore throat, cough, dysphagia, and hoarseness symptoms after suspension laryngoscopy (Larner et al., 2019; Taliercio et al., 2017; Okui et al., 2020). Pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods can be applied to prevent sore throat and dysphagia after suspension laryngoscopy. The interventions that start while the patient is still in the recovery room to prevent postoperative sore throat and swallowing difficulties are the responsibility of the recovery unit nurses. Being aware of the problems such as sore throat and swallowing difficulties experienced by patients after suspension laryngoscopy, effective nursing practices should be developed to prevent these problems and their possible consequences. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of cold vapor on sore throat and dysphagia in the early postoperative period after suspension laryngoscopy.