Use of the nasogastric tube after total laryngectomy: is it truly necessary?

The nasogastric tube has been routinely used to feed the patient during the first postoperative days after a total laryngectomy. In the last 21 years the author has performed 625 total laryngectomies without using the feeding tube. With this procedure oral feeding could be started during the third postoperative day, making the patient more comfortable and confident. In addition, the hospital stay was shortened. It was also observed that the incidence of pharyngeal fistulas (9%) was comparable to that of other reports in the literature.