Short Duration vs Long Duration Voice Rest for Vocal Recovery Post-Phonosurgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative voice rest is routinely prescribed after phonosurgery to optimize vocal fold healing; however, the ideal duration remains controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated whether short-duration voice rest provides comparable vocal recovery outcomes to prolonged voice rest following phonosurgery. PURPOSE: To evaluate whether short-duration voice rest is as effective as long-duration voice rest in improving voice outcomes following phonosurgery. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted. PubMed, Ovid, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Cochrane Library were searched, and studies comparing short- vs. long-duration voice rest in patients who have undergone phonosurgery were included. Voice outcomes were pooled using a random-effects model. RESULTS: A total of six randomized controlled trials involving 186 participants were included. Overall, no significant difference between short- and long-duration voice rest was observed for all vocal outcomes, including VHI, MPT, GRBAS, HNR, shimmer, and jitter. CONCLUSION: Short-duration voice rest appears to be comparable to prolonged voice rest in terms of postoperative voice recovery following phonosurgery. These findings suggest that extended periods of vocal restriction may not provide additional benefit. REGISTRATION: This study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD420261331360).