Dysphagia after total laryngectomy: motility report.

ABSTRACT

Detailed motility studies of the pharynx and esophagus with its two sphincters were performed in 31 patients having cancer larynx to find the correlation between postoperative motility changes and occurrence of dysphagia. After the operations, there was only one patient complained of dysphagia although all patients showed a well-defined decrease in the intraluminal pressures in the pharynx and upper esophageal sphincter. The upper and middle thirds of the esophageal body showed normal contractions in eight patients and weaker contractions in 23 of the cases postoperatively. All cases showed weaker contractions in the lower esophageal body. All the postoperative recordings resulted in an incomplete relaxation of the upper esophageal segment [UES] and incoordination. Although total laryngectomy completely interrupted the continuity of the proximal digestive tube and may caused derangement in the esophageal motility, dysphagia was not a striking postoperative symptom in those patients