Supracricoid laryngectomy: the impact of senescence on swallowing safety.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association between aging and the functional aspects of swallowing (laryngeal penetration and laryngotracheal aspiration) in individuals who underwent supracricoid laryngectomy in the late period and without complaints.

METHODS

A total of 70 patients, 56 (80%) aged >60 years and 14 (20%) <60 years, under outpatient follow-up, after cancer treatment and with no complaints of swallowing, performed functional evaluation using the swallowing videofluoroscopy. Image classification was performed using the penetration-aspiration scale developed by Rosenbek. The χ2 test and logistic regression were applied to associate the age categories to the outcomes (penetration and aspiration).

RESULTS

Patients aged over 60 years had a higher prevalence of penetration (24.29%) and aspiration (48.57%) than patients aged under 60 years. In this sample, aspiration was associated with age. Patients aged over 60 years were more likely to present penetration (27% more) during swallowing than patients under 60 years. Patients aged over 60 years had an approximately four-fold greater probability of laryngotracheal aspiration than patients aged under 60 years.

CONCLUSION

In patients without complaints of swallowing in the late postoperative period of supracricoid laryngectomy, there is a greater probability of laryngotracheal aspiration in elderly aged over 60 years than in individuals under 60 years.