[The role of the hyoid bone in the act of deglutition after horizontal epiglottic laryngectomy].

Results of ++roentgeno-cinematographic studies of the deglutition act in patients after horizontal supraglottic laryngectomy are presented. The analysis of the material has been expected to provide an answer to what an extent the removal or the preservation of hyoid bone does influence the disorders that involve the swallowing. The entire elaborated material comprises 51 deglutition acts, having been divided into 3 groups. In the I group of studied subjects it was observed that there was a more sizable shortening of the pharynx, as well as a greater upward and forward movement of the remaining larynx. In the II group, the pharynx was longer by 1 cm, while the analogical movement of the spared larynx was by a half worse. The overall observations of other parameters facilitating efficient deglutition failed to reveal significant difference in I and II group of the studied. However, good deglutition we recorded in cases where the remaining larynx was maximally raised upwards to the hyoid bone or to the tongue base . These findings authorize us to ascertain that the preservation or the removal of the hyoid bone in the course of this procedure is without greater importance for the deglutition act rehabilitation. But, it is of more considerable significance to elevate the spared larynx upwards to the direct vicinity of the tongue base.