Does early oral feeding increase the likelihood of salivary fistula after total laryngectomy?

This study compared the incidence of salivary fistula between groups with an early or late reintroduction of oral feeding, and identified the predictive factors for salivary fistula. A randomised trial was performed using 89 patients with larynx or hypopharynx cancer, assigned to 2 groups (early or late). In the early group, oral feeding was started 24 hours after total laryngectomy or total pharyngolaryngectomy, and in the late group, it was started from post-operative day 7 onwards. The occurrence of salivary fistula was evaluated in relation to the following variables: early or late oral feeding, nutritional status, cancer stage, surgery performed, and type of neck dissection. The incidence of salivary fistula was 27.3 per cent ( = 12) in the early group and 13.3 per cent ( = 6) in the late group ( = 0.10). The following variables were not statistically significant: nutritional status ( = 0.45); tumour location ( = 0.37); type of surgery ( = 0.91) and type of neck dissection ( = 0.62). A significant difference ( = 0.02) between the free margins and invasive carcinoma was observed. The early reintroduction of oral feeding in total laryngectomised patients did not increase the incidence of salivary fistula.