Swallowing Rehabilitation for Altered Gag Reflex after Tongue Cancer Treatment: A Case Report

Case RepoRthypersensitivity is also frequently observed and represents a significant contributor to swallowing dysfunction in these patients.They often exhibit an altered or exaggerated gag reflex, which further disrupts normal swallowing physiology.Although the precise mechanisms underlying radiation-associated gag reflex hypersensitivity remain incompletely understood, several IntroductIonSwallowing disorders, xerostomia, gag reflex, and difficulty in speech are the most common side effects occurring after Surgical and Radiation therapy in patients with oral cancer or a few other subsites of head and neck cancer in general. 1 This is because the swallowing function is a multivariate entity attributed to the perfect sync of the tongue musculature, muscles of mastication, the salivary glands, the coordination of pharyngeal constrictors, the smooth musculature of the esophagus, including a few of the cranial nerves, and the autonomic nervous system as well. 2 So, it is well understood that disruption of this intricate fabric may lead to diverse symptomatology commonly found in the post-treatment phase in patients with oral cancer.The subject has led to intense research in the field and the recent time has seen development in the field of both surgery and radiation such as the introduction of TORS, de-escalation treatment trials, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image guided radiation therapy (IGRT), use of oral stents to better position vital structures away from radiation field thereby enhancing accurate radiation therapy delivery. 3ysphagia is mainly due to post-treatment tissue loss and fibrosis in the field, with other factors contributing.Intraoral