The Effect of Rhinoplasty on the Acoustic Characteristics of Resonance and Sound Production

Rhinoplasty is the most common cosmetic surgery procedure in Iran. One of the complications of this procedure that has been less considered is the probable effect of rhinoplasty on voice. This study aimed to assess the influence of rhinoplasty on acoustic characteristics of resonance and sound production. This prospective study was undergone on 25 patients with rhinoplasty and septorhinoplasty. All patients were referred to a speech therapy clinic for voice recording. Participants were asked to read a task containing nasal vowels, nasal consonants, syllables, and sentences with and without nasal consonants while a microphone was placed 5 cm from the mouth in a silent room before and three times (one, three, and six months) after surgery. A speech therapist consultant analyzed the recording data. Acoustic parameters including formant 1–5, LTAS, and HNR were measured and compared before and after surgery. Based on this study, fourth and fifth formants were the most formant affected by rhinoplasty; however, it was not significant. In addition, other investigated acoustic parameters, including LTAS and HNR, did not differ meaningfully after the procedure. Acoustic analysis of nasal vowels, nasal consonants, syllables, words, and sentences with and without nasal consonants did not reveal any significant differences after the rhinoplasty.