Endoscopic video swallow studies and swallowing difficulties is the subject of the day. Swallowing difficulty cause : Esophageal cancer occurs when a malignant (cancerous) tumor forms in the lining of the esophagus, which can cause difficulty swallowing. Read more about esophageal cancer, its causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Stomach cancer (gastric adenocarcinoma): Stomach cancer occurs when cancerous cells form in the stomach lining. Because it’s difficult to detect, it’s often not diagnosed until it’s more advanced. Learn about the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of stomach cancer.

Specific volumes of food per swallow may result in faster pharyngeal swallow responses. Clinicians modify the bolus size (i.e., bigger/smaller bolus amounts), particularly for patients that require a greater volume to adequately stimulate a swallow response or for patients that require multiple swallows per bolus. Patients may also require cuing and assistance to maintain an appropriate rate during meals. Impulsivity and/or decreased initiation are examples of cognitive deficits evident across a number of disorders that may affect a patient’s pace during meals. Postural techniques redirect the movement of the bolus in the oral cavity and pharynx and modify pharyngeal dimensions in a systematic way. Postural techniques may be appropriate to use with patients with neurological impairments, head and neck cancer resections, and other structure damage. Postural techniques may be used in patients of all ages. Examples of postural techniques include the following: Chin-down posture —the chin is tucked down toward the neck during the swallow, which may bring the tongue base closer to the posterior pharyngeal wall, narrow the opening to the airway, and widen the vallecular space. Find extra details on South Louisiana Swallowing Diagnostics.

The first step in treatment is to make the proper diagnosis. This involves a medical history and various tests to find the cause of the dysphagia. Often a team approach to treatment is needed. Several types of health care providers — physicians, registered dietitian, psychologist, speech pathologist, occupational therapist — work together to develop the best program. An important part of the treatment is helping the patient get adequate nutrition, while protecting against complications such as pneumonia from food or liquid getting into the lungs. Obviously, this requires a specialized diet. There are five different diet levels from pureed (level 1) up through modified regular food (level 5). The diets vary in texture and consistency, and are chosen depending on which would be most effective for a specific patient.

As South Louisiana’s only mobile swallowing diagnostics service provider, we’re working hard to ensure our company reaches as many patients and clinicians as possible. In addition to presenting at multiple state conferences and hosting several Continuing Education (CEU) events in the New Orleans area every year, our owner works tirelessly to ensure our team is speed on the current research. We’re happy to work with your facility to offer educational sessions to your staff members. Find additional details at dysphagiainmotion.com.