Abstract
Postoperative difficulty in swallowing commonly develops after operations for oral malignancies and can affect nutritional intake, respiratory safety, and overall quality of life. This study quantitatively synthesized randomized-trial evidence to assess if initiating rehabilitation shortly after surgery enhances recovery of swallowing function and associated life-quality measures. Seven Chinese and international databases, including CNKI, WanFang, VIP, CBM, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from database launch through May 2026. Only randomized controlled trials comparing early rehabilitation with standard postoperative care were included. Nine trials involving 838 patients were included. Early rehabilitation was associated with better WST, EAT-10, and MASA-OC outcomes at the reported follow-up points, and it also improved the swallowing domain of the UW-QOL. Swallowing therapy initiated within the first one to two weeks following surgery may support functional swallowing recovery and better swallowing-related quality of life. Because several included studies had incomplete reporting of randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding, the conclusion should be interpreted as supportive rather than definitive.