Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of dietary management on postoperative swallowing care of patients undergoing anterior cervical surgery. METHODS: This prospective randomized controlled trial involved 120 patients who underwent anterior cervical surgery in the orthopedic department of a tertiary hospital from March 2022 to March 2023. Patients were randomly divided into observation and control groups (n = 60 each). The control group received routine postoperative care, whereas the observation group received additional systematic dietary management intervention. The outcome measures comprised recovery time of swallowing function, Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST) scores, Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) scores, nutritional status, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: The observation group showed a shorter recovery time of swallowing function than the control group (8.6 ± 2.3 vs 13.5 ± 3.7 days; t = 8.475, P < 0.01). At 3, 7, and 14 days after surgery, both the RSST and the SWAL-QOL scores were higher in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.01). At 14 days after surgery, the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 score was lower in the observation group (1.8 ± 0.6 vs 2.5 ± 0.8, t = 5.387, P < 0.05). By contrast, serum albumin levels were higher in the observation group (38.6 ± 3.1 g/L vs 35.7 ± 3.4 g/L, t = 4.962, P < 0.05). Patient satisfaction scores were higher in the observation group than in the control group (87.6 ± 6.8 vs 72.3 ± 8.5; t = 11.026, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Systematic dietary management effectively promotes the recovery of swallowing function, improves nutritional status, and increases patient satisfaction after anterior cervical surgery, supporting its clinical application. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Systematic dietary management provides a practical, evidence-based intervention to address postoperative dysphagia in anterior cervical surgery patients. This approach can be readily implemented in clinical settings to accelerate functional recovery, reduce nutritional complications, and improve patient outcomes. The graded dietary protocol and assessment tools (RSST and SWAL-QOL) offer health care teams standardized methods for managing swallowing dysfunction, ultimately enhancing perioperative care quality.