[The rehabilitation of swallowing after a supraglottic laryngectomy].

We report the swallowing rehabilitation experience of two patients submitted to supraglottic laryngectomy. Rehabilitation was obtained by training of specific swallowing movements to increase hypertrophy of the true vocal cords, which avoid pulmonary aspiration of foods. The first patient failed owing to unfavorable factors. The second patient was able to swallow pastes after eleven days of training, and the swallowing was normal forty days after the surgery. Success in this case was the result of patient's motivation and persistent efforts of the nursing personnel.