Speech recovery in patients after surgical treatment for oral and oropharyngeal cancer

Abstract

Relevance: Surgical treatment for oral and oropharyngeal cancer leads to severe disturbances in speech or
 voice, swallowing and breathing, de-socialization of patients. Restoring the communicative function is the main
 task of such patients’ medical rehabilitation.
 The purpose was to develop a speech therapy rehabilitation technique aimed at restoring speech disorders
 in patients after surgical treatment for oral and oropharyngeal cancer.
 Results: The developed speech therapy rehabilitation
 technique that included a preparatory stage, a speech restoration stage, and independent exercises at home was
 used in 82 patients who received in-patient treatment at
 the Head and Neck Department of N.N. Alexandrov National Cancer Centre of Belarus. The experimental group
 consisted of 52 patients who underwent one-stage reconstructive operations. The control group consisted of 30 patients who underwent standard hemiglossectomy without
 the postoperative defect replacement.
 Conclusion: Early initiation of speech therapy compensated for speech impairments after surgery on the
 oral cavity and oropharynx and reduced the severity of
 disabilities in the field of communication.