Long-term postoperative dysphagia in oral/pharyngeal surgery patients: subjects' perceptions vs. videofluoroscopic observations.

Dysphagia commonly results from surgical resection of various structures within the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal areas. The type and severity of swallowing dysfunction are based largely on the number and quantity of structures removed as well as the reconstructive procedure. Short term-recovery has been addressed in many studies. However, follow-up studies of long-term functional results and continuing swallowing problems following oral/pharyngeal surgery are unavailable. In this study, perception of swallowing dysfunction was compared with actual videofluoroscopic findings in subjects at least 1 year after oral/pharyngeal surgery. The comparative results of a questionnaire developed to evaluate patients' perception of continuing swallowing difficulty and an analysis of actual videofluoroscopic tapes indicated that the degree or type of dysphagia could not be determined from patients' subjective descriptions of the swallowing problem.