The purpose of this study is to conduct a literature review in order to verify the possible influence of Levodopa on the oral phase of deglutition in individuals with Parkinson disease. The survey was conducted in journals indexed in Science Direct, Capes periodicals, LILACS, SciELO, MedLine and Scopus, as well as in books. For this survey, the terms disfagia/dysphagia/disfagia, medicamentos/drugs/las drogas, levodopa, Parkinson/Parkinson disease/ enfermedad de Parkinson and swallowing disorders were used. It was possible to identify 16 international and 25 national scientific articles. After reading every identified papers, 32 were selected in addiction to four books and one abstract published in scientific conference proceedings were used. For such selection, the inclusion criteria were the papers which considered the impairments caused by Parkinson´s disease, especially during the oral phase of swallowing, as well as the effects of levodopa about it. As exclusion criteria, the drug influence during pharyngeal phase was considered, because it usually seems to have higher effect during oral phase. There is disagreement in the literature surveyed considering Levodopa possible effects in deglutition. When these effects occur, they generally affect the oral phase of this function, since difficulties already present in Parkinson Disease carriers are maximized by the xerostomia due to the administration of this drug. Considering the vast range of results found in the studies surveyed, developing controlled studies for a detailed elucidation of Levodopa effects in deglutition becomes necessary.
Deglutition Disorders; Drug Use; Levodopa; Parkinson Disease