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Amplitude and speed of masticatory movements in total laryngectomy patients
Paulo Fernandes Pinheiro Junior1, Lucas Carvalho Aragão Albuquerque2, Cicilia Lais de Lima Silva3
1Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Introduction:
Laryngectomy is a surgical procedure that aims to remove the hyoid bone and the larynx and its muscles; it is inferred that a destabilization of the hyoid-mandibular axis will occur, consequently changing chewing.
Objective:
To characterize the amplitude and speed of chewing in laryngectomies and to compare them with two groups of non-laryngectomized individuals differentiated by age.
Method:
72 volunteers were divided into three groups: (A) 32 volunteers, mean age 22.3 years, 17 females; (B) 20 volunteers, mean age 53.2 years, 10 females, and (C) 20 volunteers who underwent total laryngectomy, mean age 61.5 years, one female. Electrognathography, a method that tracks and measures millimeter jaw movements, was used for evaluation.
Results:
Significant differences were observed between groups A and C in masticatory amplitude and speed.
Conclusion:
Age, and adaptive and compensatory changes appear to explain chewing better than factors related to total laryngectomy.
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