Dysphagia Evaluation
The swallowing evaluation typically involves a team of medical professionals (speech-language pathologist, radiologist, otolaryngologist, gastroenterologist, physician, nurse and nutritionist/dietician). Evaluation that is undertaken to assess safety and efficiency of food/liquid intake involves:
- Administration of bedside clinical swallow examination (CSE) protocols
- Standardized objective evaluations, such as:
- Video-fluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS; an x-ray technique to view the mouth and throat while swallowing).
- Flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES; a technique that involves the insertion of a thin flexible instrument through the nose to view parts of the throat during swallowing).
These evaluations help to determine:
- the underlying swallowing physiology impairments
- the foods that enter the airway or are at risk for entering the airway
- the safest texture of food for patients
- the ideal food amount (bolus size) to be taken at one time
- the optimal swallow strategies to increase safety and efficiency of swallowing at meal times
- the safe position while eating
- compensatory changes in the head/neck positions for improving airway protection during swallowing
- rehabilitative swallowing exercises (strength and/or skill based) for restoring the swallow function
(Dated Jan 3, 2020)
