Objective:

To evaluate the association between ultrasound-guided, nursing-led, phase-based swallowing rehabilitation and clinical outcomes, including swallowing function and nutritional status, in elderly patients with MIBG-positive medullary thyroid carcinoma following 131I-MIBG therapy.

Approach:

Key Findings:

• Ultrasound-guided rehabilitation group showed greater improvements in FOIS (+2.1 vs. +1.2), MDADI (+32% vs. +18%), and EAT-10 (−6.8 vs. −3.4).
• Significant increases in suprahyoid muscle thickness (+24%) and hyoid displacement (+19%) were observed.
• Aspiration events decreased from 15% to 9%, and pneumonia-related readmissions declined from 15% to 5%.

Interpretation:

Ultrasound-guided, nursing-led swallowing rehabilitation was associated with improvements in swallowing function, muscle performance, nutritional status, and quality of life in elderly patients post-131I-MIBG therapy.

Limitations:

• Retrospective design limits causal inference.
• No a priori sample size calculation was performed.

Conclusion:

Ultrasound-guided, nursing-led rehabilitation was found to be safe and feasible for geriatric oncology rehabilitation.

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