PURPOSE: To identify the commonest changes in chewing and swallowing as a result from curative tongue cancer surgery, with less than 50% of tongue resection and preservation of both mouth floor and tongue base. METHOSD: Nine patients - six men and three women - were assessed during the pre-surgical period, using a specific protocol. During the mediate postsurgical period, five patients - four men and one woman - were reassessed using the same protocol. The Kruskall Wallis non-parametric test (Test H) was used to analyze the significance of the results. RESULTS: The comparison between pre and postoperative results showed significant (p<0,05) changes from oral to enteral feeding. There was also a significant change in chewing efficiency, which became ineffective in all patients. It was significantly observed the patients' difficulty in handling the food bolus during the chewing process, causing difficulty in forming a cohesive bolus. This demonstrates that surgery influences this function, that is, the partial loss of the tongue undermines the chewing process. The swallowing process was also impaired by the surgery: the protocol demonstrated significant presence of oral stasis after swallowing, and compensatory head movements for swallowing solids. CONCLUSION: The patients submitted to partial glossectomy presented significant alterations in chewing and swallowing as a result from surgical cancer treatment.
Tongue neoplasms; Mouth neoplasms; Glossectomy; Stomatognathic system; Deglutition disorders; Mastication; Speech therapy
