Management of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Cancer

On considering a function-preserving treatment for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, swallowing is a capital issue. For most of the patients, achieving an effective and safe deglutition will mark the difference between a functional and a dysfunctional outcome. We present an overview of the management of dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients. A brief review on the normal physiology of swallowing is mandatory to analyze next the impact of head and neck cancer and its treatment on the anatomic and functional foundations of deglutition. The approach proposed underlines two leading principles: a transversal one, that is, the multidisciplinary approach, as clinical aspects to be managed in the oncologic patient with oropharyngeal dysphagia are diverse, and a longitudinal one; that is, the concern for preserving a functional swallow permeates the whole process of the diagnosis and treatment, with interventions required at multiple levels. We further discuss the clinical reports of two patients who underwent a supracricoid laryngectomy, a function-preserving surgical technique that particularly disturbs the laryngeal mechanics, and in which swallowing rehabilitation dramatically conditions the functional results.