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Tongue Weakness and Somatosensory Disturbance Following Oral Endotracheal Extubation

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Abstract

The tongue plays important roles in mastication, swallowing, and speech, but its sensorimotor function might be affected by endotracheal intubation. The objective of this pilot study was to describe disturbances in the sensorimotor functions of the tongue over 14 days following oral endotracheal extubation. We examined 30 post-extubated patients who had prolonged (≥48 h) oral endotracheal intubation from six medical intensive care units. Another 36 patients were recruited and examined from dental and geriatric outpatient clinics served as a comparison group. Tongue strength was measured by the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument. Sensory disturbance of the tongue was measured by evaluating light touch sensation, oral stereognosis, and two-point discrimination with standardized protocols. Measurements were taken at three time points (within 48 h, and 7 and 14 days post-extubation) for patients with oral intubation but only once for the comparison group. The results show that independent of age, gender, tobacco used, and comorbidities, tongue strength was lower and its sensory functions were more impaired in patients who had oral intubation than in the comparison group. Sensory disturbances of the tongue gradually recovered, taking 14 days to be comparable with the comparison group, while weakness of the tongue persisted. In conclusion, patients with oral endotracheal intubation had weakness and somatosensory disturbances of the tongue lasting at least 14 days from extubation but whether is caused by intubation and whether is contributed to postextubation dysphagia should be further investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant # NSC-101-2314-B-002-131-MY3).

Conflict of interest

Authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 1, Jen-Ai Rd., Section 1, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC

    Han Su & Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen

  2. Department of Nursing, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Han Su & Wen-Chii Tzeng

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tzu-Yu Hsiao

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shih-Chi Ku

  5. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tyng-Guey Wang

  6. Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jang-Jaer Lee

  7. Institute of Statistics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Guan-Hua Huang

Authors
  1. Han Su
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  2. Tzu-Yu Hsiao
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  3. Shih-Chi Ku
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  4. Tyng-Guey Wang
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  5. Jang-Jaer Lee
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  6. Wen-Chii Tzeng
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  7. Guan-Hua Huang
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  8. Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen
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Correspondence to Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen.

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Su, H., Hsiao, TY., Ku, SC. et al. Tongue Weakness and Somatosensory Disturbance Following Oral Endotracheal Extubation. Dysphagia 30, 188–195 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-014-9594-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-014-9594-x

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