ABSTRACT
Studies of candidated for laryngectomy have revealed a wide range of misconceptions about this surgery and its siquellae. To evalute current preoperative counseling practices, counseling deficits, and needs as perceived by the patient and his family, we surveyed all persons who had undergone laryngectomy at this institution since January 1974. The data indicated that present presurgical counseling practices are inadequate for most patients. There was considerable discrepancy between the actual counseling the patients received and what they considered ideal. For example, most received preoperative information only from their surgeons. Yet many indicated that laryngectomy candidates should be counseled by nurses, speech pathologists, recovered laryngectomees, and others. Almost all reported that the spouse should be present during counseling. Many survey respondents indicated that printed materials and/or audiovisual programs would also be desirable.
