Dysphonien bei Kindern - Teil 2: Interdisziplinärer Konsens zu Diagnostik und Therapie

Background: There are nationally and internationally different opinions about and no guidelines available for diagnostics, treatment and management of dysphonia in childhood. For vocal nodules, for example, and non-organic dysphonia, different opinions range from wait and see to training interventions, psychotherapy and phonosurgery. Aims: The purpose of this study was to reach an interdisciplinary consensus about diagnostic tools and treatment procedures for voice disorders in children Methods: By means of an interdisciplinary exchange of experience, discussion about treatment concepts as well as a review of the current publications on concepts, prevalence, diagnostics, therapies and their evidence, this study was conducted in order to develop expert opinions. Results: Predominantly low evidence levels were found concerning diagnostic and therapy methods in the evaluated literature. Therefore, the experiences of experts of different disciplines were evaluated. We were in agreement that once a diagnosis has been stated, decisions should be made whether either counselling of the parents, voice training interventions, psychotherapy, phonosurgery or a combination of these options is preferred. Discussion and Conclusion: Many of the questions on diagnosis and different treatments of dysphonia in children are still not yet answered and need further research. Until this occurs, experts are challenged to conduct future research about the meaningfulness of diagnostic tools and the way treatment works and to develop an interdisciplinary flow chart.