Evaluation of manometric measures during tongue-hold swallows.
OBJECTIVE
Based on visual inspection, prior research documented increased movement of the posterior pharyngeal wall in healthy volunteers during tongue-hold swallows. This manometric study investigated the immediate effects of the tongue-hold maneuver on pharyngeal peak pressure generation, duration of pressure generation, and pressure slope measurements in healthy volunteers.


METHODS
Pharyngeal pressures from 40 young, healthy individuals (mean age = 25.8 years, gender equally distributed) were recorded at 3 locations: oropharynx, hypopharynx, and upper esophageal sphincter (UES), during normal control and tongue-hold swallows. Measures of peak amplitude, duration, and slope of pressure generation were subjected to statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Tongue-hold swallows produced lower pharyngeal peak pressure and shorter pharyngeal pressure durations compared to control swallows. Further, tongue-hold swallows produced lower UES relaxation pressures. Between sensors, peak pressure was lower and pressure slopes were steeper in the hypopharynx compared to the oropharynx. Several gender-specific differences were found for pharyngeal peak pressure, pressure duration, and pressure slopes.


CONCLUSIONS
Reduced amplitude and duration of pharyngeal peak pressure is likely a result of decreased base of tongue retraction during tongue-hold swallows. Central clinical considerations and future research directions are discussed in this article.
The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. shd14@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Sebastian H
SH
Doeltgen
Ulrike
U
Witte
Freya
F
Gumbley
Maggie-Lee
ML
Huckabee
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D049631:Esophageal Sphincter, Upper / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007013:Hypopharynx / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000502:physiology; D011312:Pressure; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014059:Tongue; D055815:Young Adult