ArticleClinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery2026
Influence of Probiotic Administration on Tracheoesophageal Voice Prosthesis's Function and Microbial Colonisation: A Pilot Study.
Article in Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introTracheoesophageal voice prosthesis (VP) is an effective method for restoring fluent speech after total laryngectomy, but its microbial colonisation can impair device performance. Aims of this study are to characterise VP microbiological colonisation in laryngectomised patients and assess whether regular probiotic supplementation, plus VP management, could reduce VP contamination, improving function and durability.
methodsA total of 34 patients were enrolled; 15 received standard VP hygiene and management with nystatin four times/day for 5 days before and 5 days after each VP replacement (Group 1) and 19 received the same protocol as Group 1, plus a probiotic supplement (VSL#3, Actial Farmaceutica SRL, Rome, Italy) for 10 days each month throughout the observation period (Group 2). All removed VPs were cultured. Patients underwent a brief questionnaire regarding the VP functionality.
resultsEach patient of both groups had a single VP substitution. The most frequently isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida species. When comparing VP microbial cultures at baseline and follow-up, no significant differences were observed in Group 1, while in Group 2, a significant reduction in the detection of multiple microbial species at follow-up was detected. Specifically, a significant decrease was observed in the prevalence of S. aureus methicillin-sensitive (p = 0.05), miscellaneous Gram-negative bacteria (p = 0.04) and Candida albicans (p = 0.02). Survey results showed a significant overall improvement in VP functionality in Group 2 versus Group 1 (p = 0.008).
conclusionMicrobiological findings and patient opinions suggest a positive impact of probiotics on reducing bacterial contamination and improving VP functionality.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.