7. Speech Training for Those Undergoing Esophageal Reconstruction
Over the last ten years or so, the number of operations performed in cases of cancer of the hypolarynx and cervical esophageal malignancies has grown with improvements in surgical procedures.
In such surgery, the larynx is removed together with the malignancy and the esophagus is reconstructed by transplanting a skin flap and muscle from the chest or using the jejunum.
Unlike those undergoing laryngectomy, those undergoing esophageal reconstruction encounter a large number of inconveniences in daily life.
They must, for example, take extra time for meals because swallowing food and drink does not go smoothly. If the reconstructed esophagus starts shrinking, food can no longer be ingested. The number of examples is endless.