2 MATERIAL S A ND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed data from 63 patients with OPSCC who
underwent primary TORS with or without adjuvant radiation or
chemoradiation therapy between January 2010 and December 2018. Of 63
patients, we excluded 22 patients from the study, including those who
did not perform a swallowing and speech test between two and three years
after TORS (16 patients) and who had a previous history of head and neck
surgery or irradiation (1 patient), or who had cancer recurrence within
two to three years after TORS before functional evaluation (5 patients).
Finally, the remaining 41 patients were included, and data from these
patients were analyzed in this study. The study protocol was approved by
the institutional review board.
All operations were performed by a single surgeon. We performed adjuvant
radiation therapy after TORS in patients with close surgical margin or
lymph node metastasis and adjuvant concurrent chemoradiation therapy in
patients with positive margin or extranodal extension.
Evaluation of postoperative functional speech and swallowing outcomes
was performed by the mobility of the tongue, maximal phonation time,
articulation, verbal diadochokinesis, reading speed, and modified barium
swallowing tests conducted between two and three years after surgery
Tracheostomy tube or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube
dependency was also investigated.