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Total laryngectomy increases the risk of chronic constipation: a cross-sectional study of 50 patients

  • Head and Neck
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Due to difficulties in breath holding, patients who undergo total laryngectomy may be prone to the development of chronic constipation. However, few reports have described chronic constipation in laryngectomized patients, and no report has described prevalence in patients who have undergone total pharyngolaryngectomy.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of chronic constipation after laryngectomy and evaluated the relationship between patient characteristics and chronic constipation. Information on patient characteristics and the details of surgery were obtained from medical records and an original questionnaire survey in 50 patients.

Results

The prevalence of chronic constipation after laryngectomy was high, at 36%, with 18 cases. Patients who received total laryngectomy were significantly more likely to have chronic constipation than those who received total pharyngolaryngectomy (47.1% vs 12.5%, P = 0.026), who had a similar prevalence to the general public. Furthermore, the period from surgery to survey was significantly shorter in the constipation group than in the no constipation group (P = 0.043).

Conclusions

The prevalence of chronic constipation in patients who had undergone laryngectomy for head and neck cancer was high, particularly in patients who received total laryngectomy and in those with only a short period since surgery.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Guy Harris from Digital Medical Communications (DMC) Corp. (https://dmed.co.jp/) for the English‐language review of this paper.

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Author notes

  1. Yuki Harada and Takashi Matsuki have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kitasato University School of Medicine, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0374, Japan

    Yuki Harada, Takashi Matsuki, Shunsuke Miyamoto, Koichi Kano, Shohei Tsutsumi, Kaho Momiyama & Taku Yamashita

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  1. Yuki Harada
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  2. Takashi Matsuki
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  3. Shunsuke Miyamoto
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  4. Koichi Kano
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  5. Shohei Tsutsumi
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  6. Kaho Momiyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takashi Matsuki.

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Harada, Y., Matsuki, T., Miyamoto, S. et al. Total laryngectomy increases the risk of chronic constipation: a cross-sectional study of 50 patients. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 280, 419–423 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-022-07600-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-022-07600-7

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