Strategies for Inhibition of Biofilm Formation on Silicone Rubber Voice Prostheses: A Systematic Review

Alexios Tsikopoulos; Konstantinos Tsikopoulos; Gabriele Meroni; Lorenzo Drago; Stefanos Triaridis; Paraskevi Papaioannidou

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.07.015

Strategies for Inhibition of Biofilm Formation on Silicone Rubber Voice Prostheses: A Systematic Review

J Voice. 2023 Aug 23:S0892-1997(23)00222-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.07.015. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Alexios Tsikopoulos¹, Konstantinos Tsikopoulos², Gabriele Meroni³, Lorenzo Drago⁴, Stefanos Triaridis⁵, Paraskevi Papaioannidou²

Affiliations

¹ 1st Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: alextsikop@yahoo.gr.
² 1st Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
³ One Health Unit, Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology & Microbiome, Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁵ 1st Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, AHEPA University General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

PMID: 37625903
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.07.015

Abstract

Background: Lifetime elongation of the silicone voice rubber prostheses by inhibition of biofilm formation is a primary objective in voice restoration of laryngectomized patients. This systematic review sought to explore the existing strategies in this direction.

Materials: We conducted a systematic search of both in vitro and in vivo literature published in PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, until December 31, 2022, for published and unpublished trials assessing the strategies for inhibiting biofilm formation on silicone rubber voice prostheses, and appraised quality assessment with the modified Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials tool. We analyzed the infection prevention capacity of the included antibacterial and antifungal agents.

Results: The qualitative synthesis showed that both surface modification methods and prophylactic treatment of silicone rubber voice prostheses present adequate antibiofilm activity. Of note, the majority of the suggested prosthetic surfaces were not chronically exposed to both human fluids and biofilm-forming microorganisms.

Conclusion: Various experimental methods provide promising antibiofilm activity and, thus, possible lifespan elongation of silicone rubber voice prostheses.

Keywords: Biofilm inhibition; Tracheoesophageal prosthesis; Voice prosthesis.

Publication types

Review