Dysphagia in head and neck cancer

Manikantan, Kapila; Khode, Shailesh; Sayed, Suhail I.; Roe, Justin; Nutting, Chris M.; Rhys-Evans, Peter; Harrington, Kevin J.; Kazi, Rehan

doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2009.08.008

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Volume 35, Issue 8 , Pages 724-732, December 2009

Dysphagia in head and neck cancer

Kapila Manikantan
- Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals, Mumbai 400008, India
- Corresponding author. Mobile: +91 9892328689.
Shailesh Khode
- Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals, Mumbai 400008, India
- Mobile: +91 9766611669.
Suhail I. Sayed
- Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals, Mumbai 400008, India
- Mobile: +91 9967838768.
Justin Roe
- Head and Neck Unit, Royal Marsden NHS, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom
Chris M. Nutting
- Head and Neck Unit, Royal Marsden NHS, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom
Peter Rhys-Evans
- Head and Neck Unit, Royal Marsden NHS, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom
Kevin J. Harrington
- Head and Neck Unit, Royal Marsden NHS, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom
Rehan Kazi
- Head and Neck Unit, Royal Marsden NHS, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom

Received 16 May 2009; received in revised form 14 July 2009; accepted 7 August 2009. published online 14 September 2009.

Summary

Dysphagia is an important symptom of head and neck cancer (HNC), as well as representing a significant complication of its treatment. The treatment of HNC can result in neuromuscular and sensory damage affecting any stage of the swallow. The protective mechanisms during swallowing afforded by the structures in the pharynx are also affected in HNC. This article reviews the effect of the various treatment modalities in HNC on the swallowing mechanism. Various interventions which may play in role in relieving this dysphagia are also discussed. Due stress has been laid on the need for a multi-disciplinary approach for an optimal outcome in rehabilitating a patient’s swallow after treatment for HNC.

Keywords: Dysphagia, Head and neck cancer, Chemoradiation