Dysphagia in laryngectomized patients.

Records of 226 laryngectomies performed at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital from 1967 to 1976 were surveyed, yielding 36 patients with significant dysphagia. The majority of these patients were treated with combined therapy of preoperative radiation followed by surgical intervention. They were evaluated by esophagographic and endoscopic examinations. Among this group of patients, 16 had a benign pharyngeal stricture, 14 had recurrent tumor, two had lower esophageal stricture, and four had malignant esophageal carcinoma. Early detection of recurrent tumor is often difficult in a firm, woody radiated neck. Dysphagia may be the first sign of recurrence preceding obvious detectable recurrent tumors by several months. A barium swallow may show signs of early recurrence that may not be detectable by endoscopic examination. The radiographic evidence of recurrent tumor is described.