Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Dysphagia https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-020-10180-5 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of Hyoid Bone Displacement During Swallowing Following Thyroidectomy Bianca Oliveira Ismael da Costa 1  · Darlyane de Souza Barros Rodrigues 1  · Desiré Dominique Diniz de Magalhães 1  · Ary Serrano Santos 2  · Ricardo Vieira Santos 2  · Elma Heitmann Mares Azevedo 3  · Anna Alice Almeida 1,4  · Leandro Pernambuco 1,4 Received: 21 April 2020 / Accepted: 24 August 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate temporal ultrasound measurements of the hyoid bone displacement during swallow- ing following thyroidectomy in women and to relate these measures to age, clinical outcomes, and upper digestive airway symptoms. The sample was divided into an experimental group (EG) of 20 women who underwent thyroidectomy (mean age = 49.55 years ± 15.14) and a control group (CG) of 20 healthy women volunteers (mean age = 40.75 years ± 15.92). Both groups were submitted to ultrasound assessment to obtain four temporal measurements of hyoid bone displacement during swallowing: elevation, anteriorization, maximum displacement, and maintenance of maximum displacement. In both groups, swallowing of ten milliliters of liquid and the same volume of thickened liquid (honey) were analyzed. The images were recorded on video (30 frames/second) and analyzed according to a standardized protocol. Temporal measurements of hyoid bone elevation and maximum displacement during swallowing of thickened liquid were significantly shorter in EG (p = 0.034 and p = 0.020, respectively). There were no differences in the swallowing of liquid, and no other variable was related to the ultrasound temporal measurements investigated. This study concludes that women who undergo thyroidectomy have a shorter time of hyoid bone elevation and maximum displacement during swallowing of 10 mL of thickened liquid. Keywords Deglutition · Deglutition disorders · Thyroidectomy · Ultrasonography · Ultrasound · Hyoid bone Introduction Dysphagia is a common adverse effect during the postopera- tive period of patients who undergo thyroidectomy whether in the presence of damage to vagus nerve branches or the absence of operative complications [1, 2]. Symptoms can occur in about 55% of cases [1]. They are usually transient, although there are reports of their presence during follow-up [3–7]. The most frequent symptoms reported in question- naires or interviews after surgery include dry throat, throat clearing, odynophagia, foreign body sensation in the throat, and choking [5, 7–10]. The last three symptoms are also reported in preoperative moments usually due to compres- sion caused by thyroid disease [2, 11, 12]. There are few studies using instrumental imaging resources to assess swallowing after thyroidectomy [1, 6, 13], especially with quantitative data. One of the aspects of swallowing kinematics that can be explored through quan- titative measurements is hyoid bone displacement [14, 15]. It is known that thyroidectomy can limit the movement of * Leandro Pernambuco leandroapernambuco@gmail.com 1 Graduate Program in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (PPgFon/UFPB-UFRN-UNCISAL), Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Campus I s/n, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, PB 58051-900, Brazil 2 Lauro Wanderley University Hospital (HULW/UFPB/EBSERH), Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), R. Tabelião Stanislau Eloy, 585, Castelo Branco, João Pessoa, PB 58050-585, Brazil 3 Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Av. Marechal Campos, 1468, Maruípe, Vitória, ES 29043-900, Brazil 4 Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Campus I s/n, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, PB 58051-900, Brazil