Pharyngeal deviation is a pulling of the posterior pharyngeal wall to one side, as sometimes seen when a patient performs the “pharyngeal squeeze.” This finding accompanies paresis or paralysis of the constrictor muscles of one side of the pharynx. In these cases, elicitation of the pharyngeal squeeze will reveal that the pharyngeal wall pulls to the normal (non-paralyzed) side. On the normal side, one will typically see bulging of normally functioning muscle to fill one pyriform sinus; meanwhile, the other pyriform sinus will appear capacious and almost dilated. The midline pharyngeal raphe, which joins the pharyngeal constrictor muscles, moves far to the normal side. A person with these findings normally experiences considerable swallowing difficulty, with pooling of saliva or ingested materials, particularly in the pyriform sinus on the paretic or paralyzed side.
Pharyngeal Paralysis, Seen with Pharynx Contraction
Pharyngeal paralysis (1 of 2)
Pharyngeal paralysis, more obvious with pharynx contraction (2 of 2)
