Evaluating dysphagia and xerostomia outcomes following transoral robotic surgery for patients with oropharyngeal cancer

Mitesh P. Mehta*, Rebecca Prince, Zeeshan Butt, Bryce E. Maxwell, Brittni N. Carnes, Urjeet A. Patel, Katelyn O. Stepan, Bharat B. Mittal, Sandeep Samant

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: We assessed long-term patient-reported dysphagia and xerostomia outcomes following definitive surgical management with transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in patients with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) via a cross-sectional survey study. Methods: Patients with OPC managed with primary oropharyngeal surgery as definitive treatment at least 1 year ago between 2015 and 2019 were identified. The M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) and Xerostomia Inventory (XI) scores were compared across treatment types (i.e., no adjuvant therapy [TORS-A] vs. adjuvant radiotherapy [TORS+RT] vs. adjuvant chemoradiotherapy [TORS+CT/RT]). Results: The sample had 62 patients (10 TORS-A, 30 TORS+RT, 22 TORS+CT/RT). TORS-A had clinically and statistically significantly better MDADI scores than TORS+RT (p = 0.03) and TORS+CT/RT (p = 0.02), but TORS+RT and TORS+CT/RT were not significantly different. TORS-A had clinically and statistically significantly less XI than TORS+RT (p < 0.01) and TORS+CT/RT (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Patients with OPC who have undergone TORS+RT or TORS+CT/RT following surgery face clinically worse dysphagia and xerostomia outcomes relative to patients who undergo TORS-A.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3955-3965
Number of pages11
JournalHead and Neck
Volume43
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021

Funding

This work was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (grant number UL1TR001422).

Keywords

  • The M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory
  • Xerostomia Inventory
  • adjuvant chemoradiotherapy
  • adjuvant radiotherapy
  • oropharyngeal cancer
  • patient-reported outcomes
  • primary oropharyngeal surgery

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Otorhinolaryngology

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