Effectiveness of Chin Tuck on Laryngeal Penetration: Quantitative Assessment.
Joo Young Ko, Dae Youp Shin, Tae Uk Kim and 3 others
PMID 33399994WHAT IT FOUND
Chin tuck reduced laryngeal penetration depth on average, but a one-grade reduction occurred in only 26 of 76 patients.
Confirm individual benefit before using it routinely.
Key findings
01Chin tuck reduced penetration depth and penetration ratio compared with the neutral position.
02Using the study's one-grade threshold, chin tuck was effective in 26 of 76 patients.
03Patients whose chin tuck was effective had less residue in the vallecula and pyriform sinuses than patients whose chin tuck was ineffective.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used archived videofluoroscopic swallowing study videos from a hospital and selected only patients who had penetration and could perform chin tuck properly, so the results may not apply to patients with aspiration or poor neck flexion. The comparison was immediate neutral versus chin tuck swallowing during the study; it did not test whether chin tuck still helps after training. Penetration depth and epiglottis length were measured as straight lines even though the structures are curved, and the method was only tested when penetration occurred before epiglottis inversion. The study did not measure the neck flexion angle exactly, so some patients may not have achieved the intended chin tuck posture. The authors state that cervical curvature changes, especially in older patients, can make proper chin tuck posture difficult.
Declared interests
The funding statement names the National Research Foundation of Korea. No other conflict-of-interest information is reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that chin tuck reliably reduces penetration in most patients. The average depth and ratio decreased, but only 26 of 76 patients met the one-grade reduction threshold, and the study measured only the immediate effect during videofluoroscopic swallowing study.