Acute Swallowing Outcomes After Surgical Resection of Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers With the Mandibular Lingual Release Approach

Objective To investigate the incidence, nature, severity, and recovery of early dysphagia in patients following surgical resection of oral and/or oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with a mandibular lingual release approach (MLRA). Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary head and neck cancer center. Methods Inclusion of patients' after surgical resection of oral cavity and/or oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma via an MLRA between 2012 and 2017. Data collection included acute medical care, enteral feeding, and swallowing outcomes derived from clinical swallow examination and videofluoroscopic swallowing study assessments at baseline, after surgery, and prior to discharge. Results Twenty-eight patients were eligible for participation (23 males; mean age, 63 years). Baseline clinical swallow examination findings revealed that 32% (n = 9) were tolerating normal diet and fluids preoperatively (Functional Oral Intake Scale [FOIS] = 7). Following surgery, the majority (n = 21, 75%) experienced severe dysphagia (FOIS <= 4), of which 15 were nil by mouth. Twelve patients received a postoperative videofluoroscopic swallowing study, with silent aspiration observed in 9 cases. At discharge, 12 (43%) patients had persistent severe functional dysphagia (FOIS <= 4) with ongoing enteral feeding requirements, of which 7 were nil by mouth. Eleven (39%) were managing diets of modified fluid/diet consistencies (FOIS = 5), and 5 (18%) had mild dysphagia (FOIS >= 6) at discharge. None were able to manage a normal diet. The average length of hospital stay was 27.9 days. Conclusions Early dysphagia post-MLRA is a common and often severe complication of surgery. Patients require extended hospital admission with prolonged enteral feeding, which may persist postdischarge. This cohort requires early intervention by speech-language pathology services to aid swallow rehabilitation.