Podcast #295 · 29 Sept 2026
Pediatric Cancer: Managing Dysphonia, Dysphagia & Airway
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Vocal Fold Paralysis
- Dysphonia
- Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES)
- Tracheostomy
- Speech Language Pathology (SLP)
- Pediatric Head and Neck Cancer
- Vocal Fold Injections
- Pediatric Oncology
- Pediatric Dysphagia
When a child's cancer treatment threatens a child’s ability to speak, eat, or breath, how do leading care teams decide what to address first? On this episode of BackTable ENT, host Dr. Gopi Shah welcomes Dr. Anthony Sheyn, pediatric otolaryngologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and St. Jude, and Amber Bonner, MS, CCC-SLP, acute care speech-language pathologist at Le Bonheur, to explore how a multidisciplinary team navigates the most challenging functional decisions in pediatric head and neck oncology.
Timestamps
Resources
- Nagy P, Beckmann N, Cox S, Sheyn A. Management of Vocal Fold Paralysis and Dysphagia for Neurologic Malignancies in Children. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2019 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31215235/
- ASHA Practice Portal: Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES)
- ASHA Practice Portal: Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study (VFSS / modified barium swallow)
- Zur KB et al. Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI): a new tool for evaluating pediatric dysphonia. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2007
- Pediatric Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice, Part 2: A Protocol. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2026
- Care of Infants and Children with Tracheostomies: An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline
More about this episode
They discuss baseline preoperative evaluation, strategies to distinguish tumor effects from treatment complications, and the pivotal role of instrumental swallow studies. The discussion covers standardized voice assessments, decisions around feeding tubes and tracheostomy, early vocal fold interventions, and the realities of family education and post-op rehab. Through real-world examples and collaborative protocols, Dr. Sheyn and Amber Bonner share how teams can set children up for meaningful recovery and long-term survivorship, bringing hope to families facing the toughest cases.