Voice, swallowing and airway

Subspecialty laryngology and professional voice care through the St Vincent’s Laryngology Clinic, and assessment of throat, swallowing and airway symptoms by the department’s head and neck surgeons.

Laryngology Clinic

St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney

The Laryngology Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital provides specialised assessment and management of patients with disorders of the larynx (voice box), including conditions affecting voice, swallowing and breathing.

The clinic is a multidisciplinary service run jointly by a fellowship-trained laryngologist (ENT surgeon) and a specialist speech pathologist. This collaborative approach allows patients to receive comprehensive assessment and coordinated medical, surgical and speech pathology care during a single consultation.

The service is led by Dr Georgina Harris, an ENT surgeon who has undertaken advanced subspecialty fellowship training in laryngology in the United States and United Kingdom.

Conditions we treat

The clinic assesses and manages the full spectrum of laryngeal disorders, including:

  • Voice disorders: persistent hoarseness, vocal fold nodules, polyps, cysts, scarring, vocal fold atrophy and muscle tension dysphonia.
  • Vocal fold paralysis: unilateral and bilateral vocal fold paralysis and other disorders of vocal fold movement.
  • Swallowing disorders: dysphagia, aspiration and swallowing difficulties associated with neurological or structural conditions.
  • Laryngeal airway disorders: inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO), laryngeal stenosis and other conditions affecting breathing.
  • Neurological laryngeal disorders: spasmodic dysphonia, vocal tremor and other laryngeal movement disorders.
  • Benign and recurrent laryngeal lesions: including recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
  • Professional voice disorders: voice difficulties affecting singers, performers, teachers and other professional voice users.

Assessment and treatment

Patients undergo a comprehensive assessment by both the laryngologist and speech pathologist, supported by specialised diagnostic techniques including flexible laryngoscopy and videostroboscopy.

Treatment is individualised and may include voice or swallowing therapy, medical management, office-based laryngeal procedures or specialised surgery.

The clinic provides expertise in advanced laryngeal treatments, including vocal fold augmentation, laryngeal laser surgery and surgical management of vocal fold paralysis and complex laryngeal airway conditions.

Referrals

The clinic welcomes referrals from general practitioners, ENT specialists, speech pathologists and other medical specialists for patients with voice, swallowing and laryngeal airway disorders, particularly those requiring subspecialty assessment or multidisciplinary care.

Public: through St Vincent’s Hospital’s referral process (St Vincent’s Hospital ENT page), addressed to the Laryngology Clinic. The hospital follows the NSW State-wide Referral Criteria for voice disorders.

Private: The Voice Centre Australia, St Vincent’s Clinic — (02) 8381 0989, admin@thevoicecentre.com.au.

More on the department’s clinics.

Throat, swallowing and airway symptoms

Persistent hoarseness, a sore throat, difficulty swallowing or a lump in the throat lasting more than three weeks needs examination of the larynx and pharynx to exclude a tumour. These presentations are assessed by the department’s head and neck surgeons, who perform laryngoscopy and swallowing assessment, treat structural and inflammatory causes, and refer onward: anything suspicious or malignant to the Head and Neck Cancer Clinic, and subspecialty voice, swallowing and laryngeal airway disorders to the Laryngology Clinic.

What we assess

  • Hoarseness or voice change lasting more than three weeks
  • Difficulty or pain on swallowing (dysphagia, odynophagia)
  • Globus (lump-in-the-throat sensation) and persistent throat clearing
  • Laryngopharyngeal reflux
  • Throat, tongue-base and neck lumps
  • Noisy breathing (stridor) and narrowing of the airway
  • Pharyngeal pouch (Zenker’s diverticulum) and cricopharyngeal dysfunction

Referrals

Public referrals follow St Vincent’s Hospital’s established referral process; the referral form and how to send it are on the St Vincent’s Hospital ENT page. Private referrals go directly to the surgeon’s rooms.

Include duration of symptoms, smoking and alcohol history, and any imaging or laryngoscopy findings.

Suspected or confirmed cancer: mark the referral URGENT and send it through the hospital’s referral process (St Vincent’s Hospital ENT page). Include clinical findings, imaging, pathology and biopsy results where available; do not delay the referral while awaiting investigations.

For urgent clinical advice or concerns requiring immediate assessment, phone St Vincent’s Hospital switchboard on (02) 8382 1111 and ask for the on-call ENT registrar. Email alone should not be relied on for time-critical concerns.

Which service?

Laryngology Clinic

Professional or performing voice users; a known laryngeal voice disorder; vocal fold paralysis; laryngeal airway disorders (ILO, stenosis); neurological laryngeal disorders; swallowing disorders needing subspecialty assessment.

Throat, swallowing and airway

Hoarseness for more than three weeks; swallowing difficulty; globus or reflux symptoms; a throat or neck lump; airway symptoms.

Head and neck cancer

Suspected or confirmed cancer: mark the referral URGENT. See Head and neck cancer.

Our surgeons

The department’s consultant surgeons work across the full breadth of otolaryngology, head and neck and skull base surgery. Each consults publicly through St Vincent’s Hospital and privately in their own rooms.

Meet our surgeons