• Reference Number: HEY1488/2026
• Departments: Speech and Language
• Last Updated: 30 September 2026

Introduction

This leaflet has been produced to give you general information about transoral laser resection. Most of your questions should be answered by this advice leaflet. It is not intended to replace the discussion between you and your doctor but may act as a starting point for discussion. If after reading it you have any concerns or require further explanation, please discuss this with a member of the healthcare team who has been caring for you.

What is Transoral Laser Resection

Transoral laser resection is a procedure used by a skilled surgeon to resect a small tumour or growth in your voice box (larynx). A highly specialized carbon dioxide laser beam is used. This limits damage to normal structures around the tumour such as nerves, blood vessels and muscles which are important for speech and swallowing. This procedure is performed through the mouth and throat and does not leave a visible scar.

Why do I need Transoral Laser Resection

You have experienced symptoms that have affected your voice and/or swallowing and you have undergone a number of investigations. You have been diagnosed with a small tumour in your voice box. Following discussion with your doctor, transoral laser resection has been recommended as a treatment intervention to remove your tumour.

Can there be any complications or risks?

Your doctor will discuss any complications or risks with you as part of the procedure for informed consent.

How do I prepare for Transoral Laser Resection

This information should help to prepare you for the procedure. We recommend that you share the information it contains with your partner and/or family (if you wish) so that they can be of help and support. There may be information they need to know, especially if they are taking care of you following this procedure. You will need to attend and appointment at the Pre-Assessment Clinic prior to your hospital admission. You will be given information about your hospital stay at that appointment. Before or after your procedure you will be provided with a Vocal Hygiene Advice Leaflet for information for you to follow.

What will happen?

You will generally be admitted to the ward on the day of your procedure. The procedure will take place in theatre under a general anaesthetic. You will be offered appropriate pain relief post-operatively.

What happens afterwards?

You may be expected to stay on the ward for up to 24 hours post-operatively. Please advise your healthcare team of any uncontrolled pain or an inability to eat and/or drink.

Your results will be available at your next outpatient appointment. You may require a further biopsy in 6-8 weeks to check that the treatment has been successful. Regular Consultant review appointments are arranged in the first-year post-treatment.

Voice Care Advice

Voice rest is very important after vocal fold surgery. Your vocal folds will not heal properly if they are overused during this time. If you use your voice a lot at work we recommend you take two weeks off to give yourself time to rest and heal.

Immediately after surgery (first 72 hours):

• Do not talk or whisper, laugh out loud, sing, cough or clear your throat.
• Use a notepad and a pen to communicate during this time.
• Drink plenty of fluids, avoiding caffeinated or alcoholic drinks which dry out your vocal folds.
• Do not smoke. Avoid smoky atmospheres.
• Do not answer the telephone; ask people to text or email instead.
• Avoid heavy lifting, pushing and pulling including gym and aerobic activity.
• Follow your reflux management guidelines as normal.
• After 48 hours use steam inhalations (especially if your throat feels dry). Breathe in the steam for 5 minutes 4-5 times a day. Use hot water rather than boiling to avoid scalding.
• Avoid playing wind or brass instruments (the blowing technique can result in forceful vocal fold contact).

After 72 hours:

• Speak no louder than a soft conversational volume.
• Speak less often than usual and gradually increase the amount that you use your voice each day (initially about 10% of normal).
• Do not shout, clear your throat, cough unnecessarily, laugh loudly, whisper, raise your voice or sing.
• Try to avoid using the phone and if you do keep the conversation short.
• Try to have periods of voice rest between speaking.
• Keep drinking lots of fluid and inhaling steam twice a day.
• Continue following your reflux management guidelines.
• Take time to relax each day.

If you have exercises from your voice therapist, you can start practicing them again on day 5 post surgery for 1 to 2 minutes at a time.

After 2 weeks:

• Increase voice use to about 50% of normal.
• Continue to avoid shouting, clearing your throat, coughing, whispering and laughing loudly.
• Continue to practice any exercises that your therapist has given you.
• If you are a singer, you can now start to practice some gentle pitch glides – ask your voice therapist to suggest appropriate exercises.
• If you are a singer, remember that your voice use is cumulative and the amount you use your voice overall includes your speaking and singing.
• Aim to schedule your voice use and vocal practice into several short sessions scattered throughout the day.

After 3 weeks:

• Increase voice use to about 75% of normal.
• If you are a singer, you can now start singing again within a comfortable volume and pitch range (you should not attempt to produce your performance sound quality at this stage).
• Continue to practice frequently in short regular sessions.
• Continue to follow your voice care advice.

After 4 weeks:

• Return to normal vocal activities whilst taking care to avoid any of the vocal behaviours that may have contributed to your initial voice problem.
• If you are a singer, it is a good idea to work with an appropriately trained singing teacher to help you with any compensatory mechanisms that you may have developed as a result of singing with a compromised larynx.

After 6 weeks:

You should now be feeling back to normal. Please do contact your voice therapist or ENT Consultant if you are continuing to experience problems. If you are a singer, you should now be able to go back to performing.

Should you require further advice on the issues contained in this leaflet, please do not hesitate to contact the Speech and Language Therapy Department on Tel: 01482 604331.

Your feedback matters to us

To ensure we deliver a safe and quality service, and to help us understand the experience you have of the care you receive from our staff, we would value your thoughts about the service you received.

You may be contacted as part of our quality assurance programme which is where we visit our teams and staff and talk to them about the care they provide to our patients or at any time during or after you have needed our services.

To collect this feedback, we would contact you using the registered telephone number we hold in your care record. This feedback will be strictly anonymous and whilst we will share the feedback as part of the process, we will not share any details which may identify you.

We will never ask you any personal questions about your health during these telephone calls.

If you do not wish to speak to us, please say this when we call, we do not want you to feel pressured.

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.