Application of ultrasound method in the evaluation of biomechanical swallowing – Literature review

Abstract

Objective: to verify the application of the ultrasound method in the evaluation of swallowing biomechanics. Method: A literature search was conducted on bases Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed, adopting the descriptors, in English: deglutition, healthy subjects, ultrasonography and ultrasonic. The papers were selected without limitation of year, written in Portuguese or English and that focused ultrasound as swallowing assessment method in adults. Only available studies in full text were included. Each paper went through the analysis of titles and abstracts. The following data were extracted: author, country, goal, study sample, evaluation procedure and main results. Ten papers met the inclusion criteria. Results: Studies show good applicability of the method in the evaluation of the tongue, hyoid bone, larynx, genius-hyoid muscle and upper esophageal sphincter. Conclusion: The ultrasound method has good applicability in the evaluation of swallowing, providing quantitative data and minimizes risk to the patient,  avoiding the exposure radiation and use of barium.