Managing lymphoedema following treatment for head and neck cancer: is complete decongestive therapy an effective intervention to improve dysphagia outcomes?
{"title":"Managing lymphoedema following treatment for head and neck cancer: is complete decongestive therapy an effective intervention to improve dysphagia outcomes?","authors":"Alison Smith","doi":"10.1097/MOO.0000000000000969","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>The purpose of this review is to summarize current evidence regarding management of head and neck lymphoedema (HNL) to improve dysphagia outcomes following head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. This review aims to support complete decongestive therapy (CDT) comprising compression, manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), exercises and skincare as an adjunct of dysphagia rehabilitation.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Research in the limbs supports the use of CDT to improve lymphoedema outcomes. Emerging evidence supports the use of CDT for the head and neck, though, there is no consensus on optimal treatment required to improve dysphagia outcomes. Current evidence is limited due to a paucity of randomized controlled trials, case series or cohort studies with small participant numbers, and a lack of functional and instrumental dysphagia outcome measures. This provides a foundation to design and test an individually tailored programme of HNL intervention to evaluate swallowing outcomes post CDT.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>As the incidence of HNC is increasing with HPV, with patients living for longer with late effects of HNC treatment, it is vital to understand how the presence of HNL impacts on the swallow, and if functional dysphagia outcomes improve following treatment of HNL. Prospective, longitudinal research with objective and functional outcome measures are required to help determine optimal management of HNL and its impact on the swallow.</p>","PeriodicalId":55195,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"178-185"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/MOO.0000000000000969","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/2/23 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to summarize current evidence regarding management of head and neck lymphoedema (HNL) to improve dysphagia outcomes following head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. This review aims to support complete decongestive therapy (CDT) comprising compression, manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), exercises and skincare as an adjunct of dysphagia rehabilitation.
Recent findings: Research in the limbs supports the use of CDT to improve lymphoedema outcomes. Emerging evidence supports the use of CDT for the head and neck, though, there is no consensus on optimal treatment required to improve dysphagia outcomes. Current evidence is limited due to a paucity of randomized controlled trials, case series or cohort studies with small participant numbers, and a lack of functional and instrumental dysphagia outcome measures. This provides a foundation to design and test an individually tailored programme of HNL intervention to evaluate swallowing outcomes post CDT.
Summary: As the incidence of HNC is increasing with HPV, with patients living for longer with late effects of HNC treatment, it is vital to understand how the presence of HNL impacts on the swallow, and if functional dysphagia outcomes improve following treatment of HNL. Prospective, longitudinal research with objective and functional outcome measures are required to help determine optimal management of HNL and its impact on the swallow.
期刊介绍:
Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery is a bimonthly publication offering a unique and wide ranging perspective on the key developments in the field. Each issue features hand-picked review articles from our team of expert editors. With eleven disciplines published across the year – including maxillofacial surgery, head and neck oncology and speech therapy and rehabilitation – every issue also contains annotated references detailing the merits of the most important papers.