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Effects of Superior Laryngeal Nerve Lesion on Kinematics of Swallowing and Airway Protection in an Infant Pig Model

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Abstract

The superior laryngeal nerve provides detailed sensory information from the mucosal surfaces of laryngeal structures superior to the vocal folds, including the valleculae. Injury to this nerve results in airway penetration and aspiration. Furthermore, such injuries might have an impact on the function of multiple structures involved in intraoral transport and swallowing due to connections within the brainstem. We sought to determine the effects of a surgical lesion of the superior laryngeal nerve on kinematics of the tongue, hyoid, and epiglottis during swallowing. We implanted radio-opaque markers into five infant pigs under anesthesia. Then we fed milk mixed with contrast agent to the pigs while they were recorded via video fluoroscopy, before and after a surgery to transect the superior laryngeal nerve. We digitized and rated airway protection in 177 swallows. We found that in most animals, swallow duration was shorter after nerve lesion. The hyoid also traveled a shorter distance after lesion. Frequently, individuals reacted differently to the same nerve lesion. We suggest that these differences are due to individual differences in neurological connections. When comparing hyoid kinematics between swallows with successful or failed airway protection, we found more consistency among individuals. This indicates that protecting the airway requires specific sets of kinematic events to occur, regardless of the neurological differences among individuals.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Francois Gould, Christopher Mayerl, and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript, and Elaine Godec for assistance with processing data. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (DC9980 to RZG).

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Number DC9980).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA

    Andrew R. Lammers & Saja Abid

  2. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, 44272, USA

    Andrew R. Lammers & Rebecca Z. German

  3. Johns Hopkins Medicine International, 601 N. Caroline Street Suite 1080, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    Peng Ding

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Correspondence to Andrew R. Lammers.

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Authors ARL, SA, and PD declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Author RZG received a research grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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Lammers, A.R., Abid, S., Ding, P. et al. Effects of Superior Laryngeal Nerve Lesion on Kinematics of Swallowing and Airway Protection in an Infant Pig Model. Dysphagia 35, 907–917 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-020-10100-7

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