Damascus, (SANA) – Al-Bayrouni Hospital in Damascus successfully performed several esophageal stoma procedures, which involve surgical opening of the esophagus and installing a device known as a speech button to restore the ability to speak in patients who underwent laryngectomy because of laryngeal cancer.

ENT specialist Dr. Ashraf Shraiteh, who performed 15 of these procedures until now, said this is the first time this procedure is performed in Syria, noting that some patients were afraid of removing the injured larynx and installing a speech button despite knowing the consequences, while other patients welcomed it as it will help them recover and speak again.

The speech button replaced two older methods for restoring speech after a laryngectomy, either by making sounds through the vibrations of the pharynx walls, which produces a very unclear voice, or the artificial larynx device which is placed on the neck to translate whispers into an audible, albeit robotic, voice.

One of the patients, 52 year-old Imad el-Din Shater who underwent the procedure two and half months ago, said that he is feeling fine, especially regarding speech. Speaking clearly by pressing the button, Imad advised people in his situation to undergo the procedure since it has guaranteed positive results.

H. Sabbagh / Kh. Aridi