Introduction The frequency of tracheostomy in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) contrasts with the lack of objective criteria for its management. The study arose from the need for a protocol in the decision to remove the tracheal tube. Objective To evaluate the applicability of a protocol for tracheal decannulation. Methods A prospective study with 20 patients, ranging between 21 and 85 years of age (average 33.55), 4 of whom were women (20%) and 16 were men (80%). All patients had been diagnosed by a neurologist as having TBI, and the anatomical region of the lesion was known. Patients were evaluated following criteria for tracheal decannulation through a clinical evaluation protocol developed by the authors. Results Decannulation was performed in 12 (60%) patients. Fourteen (70%) had a score greater than 8 on the Glasgow Coma Scale and only 2 (14%) of these were not able to undergo decannulation. Twelve (60%) patients maintained the breathing pattern with occlusion of the tube and were successfully decannulated. Of the 20 patients evaluated, 11 (55%) showed no signs suggestive of tracheal aspiration, and of these, 9 (82%) began training on occlusion of the cannula. The protocol was relevant to establish the beginning of the decannulation process. The clinical assessment should focus on the patient's condition to achieve early tracheal decannulation. Conclusion This study allowed, with the protocol, to establish six criteria for tracheal decannulation: level of consciousness, respiration, tracheal secretion, phonation, swallowing, and coughing.

The semi-occluded vocal tract exercise with LaxVox® tube promotes immediate positive effects on the self-assessment and acoustic analysis of voice in professional singers without vocal complains. No immediate significant changes were observed with respect to auditory-perceptual evaluation of speech and singing.

Introduction Dysphagia is a common symptom in children with cerebral palsy, either in oral or pharyngeal phases. Children who face such difficulties tend to show health problems such as food aspiration, malnutrition and respiratory infections. Videofluoroscopic swallowing study is the most recommended for these cases, as it reveals the real situation during swallowing. Objective The study aimed to verify the occurrence of aspiration pneumonia in children with cerebral palsy after videofluoroscopy. Methods The population for this prospective cross-sectional study involved 103 children with cerebral palsy, referred for videofluoroscopic who had returned for medical examination after a week to search for signs and symptoms of pneumonia. Results The study involved 46 girls (44.66%) and 57 boys (55.34%), aged between 0 and 14 years of age. Of the total, 84 (81.5%) had dysphagia, of which 24 (23.3%) were severe, 8 (7.7%) were moderate and 52 (50.4%) were mild dysphagia. None of the children presented aspiration pneumonia or infectious complications during the course of videofluoroscopy or after the procedure. Conclusion In the population studied, the authors found no cases of aspiration pneumonia, even with tracheal aspiration present in 32 (31.07%) cases.

Summary Background Orthognathic surgery involves a change in the patient’s functional and aesthetic aspects. Objective The objective was to answer the following focused question: what is the impact on quality of life (QoL; aesthetic, function, social, and psychological aspects) in patients undergoing orthodontic-surgical treatment? Search methods Appropriate word combinations and truncations were selected and tailored specifically for each electronic database: PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature and gray literature. Selection criteria Studies that met the following criteria was included: patients with dentofacial deformity (P); surgical correction through orthodontic-surgical treatment (E/I); before orthodontic-surgical treatment or patients with no dentofacial deformity (C); QoL (O); cross-sectional, cohort, case-control and randomized or non-randomized clinical trial (S). Data collection and analysis In phase 1, two reviewers independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of all references. All articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded. In phase 2, the same reviewers completely read the selected articles independently. Results A total of 2879 articles were retrieved during the final database search. Fifty-two articles were selected for full reading, of which 16 were excluded, resulting in 36 included articles. The meta-analysis was performed using 13 of the selected studies. When comparing the period before any treatment with the post-operative period of 4–8 weeks, there was an association only for facial aesthetics (mean difference = 3.00; 95 per cent confidence interval = 1.10–4.89; inconsistency index = 63 per cent). The comparison between the period before any treatment with the 6 month post-operative period showed an improved QoL in all of the domains evaluated and, when comparing data after the orthodontic-surgical preparation (before surgery) and after 5–12 months of surgery, there was also statistical significance with an increased QoL for all of the domains evaluated. Conclusions In conclusion, based on the results of this systematic review and meta-analysis, the evidence suggests an improvement in the QoL of patients undergoing orthodontic-surgical treatment regarding aesthetic, functional, social, and psychological aspects. Registration CRD42017069495

Among the methods for assessing swallowing sounds -videofluoroscopy modified barium study, fiberoptic swallowing endoscopy, neck auscultation through a microphone, accelerometer and, more recently, the Doppler sonar -we have chosen the latter. Aim: to analyze swallowing sounds by cervical auscultation using Doppler sonar, in a population between 2 and 15 years without oro-pharyngeal dysfunction. Study design: cross-sectional historical cohort. Materials and methods: we investigated 90 individuals in Curitiba (2006Curitiba ( /2007. The population was separated by age into 3 groups: from 2 to 5 years, from 5 to 10 years of age and from 10 to 15 years of age. We obtained the average values for frequency, intensity and swallowing duration for saliva, liquid and pasty foods). Results: objective and measurable data were obtained. Significance related to gender was found in certain age groups and consistencies, under all the studied variables, except swallowing time. Conclusion: neck auscultation using Doppler sonar is a sensitive method to detect swallowing sounds. There was swallowing interference associated with saliva and the other tested food types and with the biological development of the age range being studied. It is an easy to apply method, not expensive and non-invasive.

RESUMO: Objetivo: avaliar a qualidade de vida de pacientes com Acidente Vascular Encefálico e disfagia neurogênica. Métodos: estudo quantitativo, do tipo transversal, descritivo, realizado no Setor de Neurologia de um Hospital de Ensino, em Curitiba- Paraná. A amostra foi constituída de 35 indivíduos com Acidente Vascular Encefálico e queixa de disfagia. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário para avaliação da qualidade de vida em disfagia. Resultados: nas variáveis sociodemográficas houve predomínio de homens, idosos, brancos, casados e primeiro grau incompleto. A avaliação de qualidade de vida demonstrou que os domínios que apresentaram alterações foram os que investigam como a alteração da deglutição tem afetado o aspecto social dos participantes. A correlação de Mann-Whitney evidenciou significância estatística (p < 5) quando relacionou a deglutição como um fardo com o tempo de se alimentar (p 0,002), frequência dos sintomas (p <0,001), saúde mental (p <0,001) e fadiga (p <0,001). Conclusão: o levantamento estatístico comprovou o impacto causado pela disfagia neurogênica na qualidade de vida dos pacientes acometidos por Acidente Vascular Encefálico, representado pelas alterações encontradas nos resultados de avalição da qualidade de vida. Na correlação de Mann-Whitney, ao se realizar os cruzamentos entre os domínios do instrumento, os dados evidenciaram significância estatística quanto ao tempo de alimentação, medo de se alimentar, saúde mental, social e fadiga, que causam prejuízo na qualidade de vida dos pacientes com disfagia neurogênica.

RESUMO Objetivo Descrever o efeito da conduta fonoaudiológica no processo de decanulação traqueal em indivíduos com traumatismo cranioencefálico (TCE). Método Estudo clínico transversal prospectivo controlado. Participaram deste estudo dois grupos de indivíduos com TCE confirmado por tomografia axial computadorizada, sendo o grupo de estudo (G1) e o grupo controle (G2) compostos por 30 indivíduos cada, com 25 (83,3%) indivíduos do gênero masculino e 5 (16,7%) do gênero feminino em cada grupo. A faixa etária variou de 18 a 53 anos, com média de 32 anos. Foi elaborado um instrumento de avaliação fonoaudiológica para indivíduos com TCE traqueostomizados composto por investigação do nível de consciência, cognição e deglutição (anexo 1) e conduta. O G1 recebeu a avaliação proposta pelo estudo e o G2, análise retrospectiva de prontuário sem avaliação fonoaudiológica. As variáveis, tempo de permanência com a traqueostomia e total de dias de internamento foram os marcadores de mensuração do efeito da conduta fonoaudiológica com esse instrumento nessa população. Resultados Verificou-se que o G1 obteve uma redução média de 4,2 dias de permanência com a traqueostomia e de 4,4 dias no tempo de internamento hospitalar quando comparado com G2, porém sem significância estatística (p = 0,2031). Conclusão O grupo que foi avaliado e recebeu a conduta fonoaudiológica proposta no instrumento obteve diminuição do tempo de permanência com a traqueostomia bem como redução do tempo de internamento hospitalar.

Based on limited evidence and low methodological quality because few studies were included, with a small sample size, from all index testes found for this systematic review, doppler showed excellent diagnostic accuracy for the discrimination of swallowing sounds, whereas microphone-reported good accuracy discrimination of swallowing sounds of dysphagic patients and stethoscope showed best screening test.