Laryngeal Manipulation for Dysphagia from Muscle Tension Dysphonia

Objectives: (1) Appreciate the use of laryngeal manipulation as treatment for perceived dysphagia resulting from excessive paralaryngeal muscle tension. (2) Describe the patients likely to have symptomatic improvement. Methods: A retrospective review identified patients from 2007‐2011 with laryngeal manipulation for muscle tension‐caused dysphagia in an academic otolaryngology practice. Subjects with dysphagia not attributable to anatomic cause who attended therapy twice or more had symptoms, demographic information, treatment, and response to therapy abstracted. Results: Thirty‐five subjects were included, consisting of 28 women and 7 men. Race was recorded as black (11), Hispanic (8), white (9), and other (7). Improvement in dysphagia was seen in 25 (71.4%, 95% confidence interval 53.7% to 86.4%). No significant differences were seen in improvement based on sex ( P =. 381) or race ( P =. 439) in chi‐square testing. The combination of age and number of sessions were predictive of improvement ( P =. 041) but were not individually significant (age P =. 096, sessions P =. 084) using logistic regression. Conclusions: We found improvement with laryngeal manipulation among individuals with muscle‐tension‐caused dysphagia. No significant differences in efficacy were seen among racial and sex subgroups. A model with age and number of sessions was significant. A prospective trial of this therapy appears warranted.