Abstract
The articulatory or swallowing function was investigated in 140 patients who underwent a surgical resection for carcinoma of either the oral cavity or the oropharynx at Kurume University Hospital. There were 112 (80 males and 32 females) oral cavity patients and 28 (25 males and 3 females) oropharyngeal cancer patients. In the analyses, the correlation between the articulatory or swallowing function and the primary site, tumor stage and the degree of surgical resection were examined. In patients with oral cancer, both functions were well preserved in the group undergoing a resection comprising less than half of the anterior tongue. However, in the group with a wide range resection, the articulatory function was invariably impaired. In patients with oropharyngeal cancer both functions were impaired when the degree of the anterior and superior wall resection increased. In the patients with a poor postoperative articulatory function, a severe postoperative swallowing dysfunction persisted. These results highly indicate that the articulatory and swallowing function are closely correlated with each other in patients undergoing a resection of either oral or oropharyngeal cancers.
