[Mechanisms of adaptation of breathing and swallowing coordination following partial laryngectomy].

Integrated study of respiration and deglutition includes 48 healthy examinees and 30 patients after partial laryngectomy. Every act of swallowing is accompanied by a respiratory pause (swallow apnoea) which in healthy subjects lasts for approximately 0.7438 sec. In the patients after partial laryngectomy swallow apnoeas are significantly prolonged and last for approximately 1.2482 sec. Swallow apnoea is usually followed by expiration. This is observed in the majority of subjects, its function being the protection of the lower respiratory pathways. Besides the interaction between breathing and swallowing, synergism is also present, functioning as adaptive mechanism of the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal system.