On the efficiency of swallowing rehabilitation for dysphagia with associated laryngeal paralysis after head and neck surgery

Abstract

Dysphagia and laryngeal paralysis are the burdensome complications of some types of head and neck surgery. The purpose of this study was to appraise the usefulness of early stage conservative therapy in these cases. Swallowing rehabilitation consisted of indirect therapy and head rotation was performed on four cases whose dysphagia associated with laryngeal paralysis after head or neck surgery. The rehabilitation started in the early stage of recovery. Distinct improvement was observed in three cases in spite of unchanged cerebral nerve paralysis. The therapy had little effect in one case whose physical conditions not ameliorated. From these data, the efficiency of swallowing rehabilitation was reaffirmed and the physical state after surgery seemed to be important for remedy.