Abstract
Doctors, nurses and a speech therapist formed a rehabilitation team of for swallowing dysfunction in April, 2007. The outcomes of rehabilitation were compared with those before the formation of this team from April, 2004 to March, 2007. The subject included 6 tongue carcinoma cases which all underwent the same therapy. The patients receiving rehabilitation performed by doctors, nurses and a speech therapist was termed the DNS group and that done by doctors and nurses, the DN group. Both groups contained 3 patients. The level of swallowing dysfunction was classified as none, slight and serious. The difference and utility of the rehabilitation was compared. Both of the slight cases in the DNS and the DN recovered within the same time period (average 16.5 days). The serious case in the DNS group recovered earlier than those in the DN group. There was no aspiration pneumonia in the DNS group, but there was in the DN group. These results indicate that the rehabilitation by the DNS group was better than by the DN grout).
