Time Course and Recovery of the Movements of Hyoid Bone and Thyroid Cartilage During Swallowing in a Patient With Sarcopenic Dysphagia

Sarcopenia is known to adversely affect swallowing function. In this report, we describe the treatment progress of an older patient with dysphagia caused by sarcopenia and the analysis results from videofluorographic examination images. An 89-yr-old man who had been hospitalized for lumbar fracture experienced lower back pain and thus had his oral intake reduced. After transfer to a rehabilitation hospital, he developed aspiration pneumonia and then sarcopenia with low nutrition and low activity. At the beginning of intervention, he aspirated food paste, but he recovered sufficiently to be able to ingest a normal meal via a nutritional approach combined with rehabilitation at the time of discharge. During this process, the maximum amounts of displacements and maximum moving velocities of his hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage during swallowing of moderately thick water were improved. Adequate nutrition intake and training for hyoid muscles are considered effective for the patient with sarcopenic dysphagia. It was concluded that measuring the maximum displacements and moving velocities of the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage during swallowing in patients with sarcopenic dysphagia was an effective way to monitor their improvement.