Voice and Swallowing After Laryngopharyngectomy and Free Ileocolic Flap Reconstruction for Hypopharyngeal Cancer

Sixteen patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who underwent laryngopharyngectomy had immediate reconstruction with a free ileocolic flap to restore voice and swallowing. All patients had satisfactory voice production and swallowing in the early postoperative stage. Maintaining adequate tension and decreasing redundancy of the transferred colon prevented food pooling and provided smooth, rapid swallowing. A wedge resection of the subserosa of the ileocecal valve to increase the intraluminal pressure helped prevent food reflux and provide good phonation. Although this modified technique yielded good initial results, both voice and swallowing deteriorated after concurrent chemoradiotherapy, possibly because of radiation injury to the transferred bowel.