The Speech Language Pathologist in The Rehabilitation Of Patients with Head and Neck: An Integrative Literature Review

Introduction: Head and neck burns require immediate clinical attention since the structures found there fulfill vital functions such as breathing, swallowing and communication. Hence, it requires an interdisciplinary team to minimize disability and consequently improve the quality of life of burn patients.

The speech language pathologist is the professional expert in charge of the rehabilitation of swallowing and communication
Objective: Identify on the scientific literature the actions performed by the speech language pathologist in the rehabilitation of patients with head and neck burns.

Methodology: It is an integrative literature review.The search was carried out in the five databases based on the descriptors "Speech", "Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences OR Speech-Language- Hearing Pathology”, “Burns OR Burn”. Articles between 1968 and 2021 were selected.

Inclusion criteria were studies carried out with patients with head and neck burns, which included a speech-language pathologist, with full text available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Articles corresponding to letters to the editor or congress abstracts were excluded. Deductive content analysis was used to interpret the data, which allowed the information to be systematized into two categories.

Results: A total of 554 articles were found, after reading the title and abstract 503 articles were excluded, and 4 duplicates were identified. 24 articles were analyzed, mostly case studies. It was identified on the different studies that the speech pathologist performs myofunctional/orofacial, swallowing, breathing, of the , voice, speech evaluation and rehabilitation. and augmentative/alternative communication strategies according to the needs of each patient.

Conclusion: The rehabilitation of swallowing and communication favors the independence and optimization of the quality of life of the patients.

Applicability to clinical practice: The integrative literature review Being the starting point to create a unified protocol for evaluation and establish evidence-based intervention criteria in the search for greater effectiveness and efficiency in the care of these patients.