Functional consequences of partial glossectomy.

The postsurgical deglutition, oral suction, and speech capabilities of 11 patients who had undergone partial glossectomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the lateral aspect of the tongue were compared with that of 20 healthy control subjects. Volume swallowed per second and speech quality were significantly correlated with the area of tongue removed. Three patients subjected to a second operation to improve the mobility of the residual tongue regained almost normal speech intelligibility. In general, functional performance was better than expected, which justifies a radical surgical approach to this kind of tumor.