Dysphagia

What is it

It is the alteration or difficulty to carry out the swallowing process safely and effectively. Dysphagia is a symptom and can be secondary to many different conditions. It can appear due to structural alterations (structural dysphagia), generally secondary to tumors (head and neck and esophageal tumors), or due to impaired swallowing function (neurogenic dysphagia), caused by neurological pathologies (Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis , Stroke, Parkinson's disease, etc.).

Difficulty swallowing can appear with foods of different textures, generally liquid dysphagia orients us to a neurological cause and solid food dysphagia usually indicates a structural problem.

It is very important to make a correct evaluation of this symptom, since not swallowing safely can have consequences such as respiratory infections due to aspiration of food, or in some cases even dehydration and malnutrition.

Existen distintos tests para evaluar la disfagia, el más usado es el Método de Exploración Clínica Volumen-Viscosidad (MECV-V), y pruebas como la videofluoroscopia para evaluar en qué fase de la deglución hay problemas. Una vez se confirma la existencia de la disfagia hay que evaluar qué textura es la adecuada para el paciente, con la que se consigue una deglución segura.

In a first phase, the administration of thickeners such as Bi1 Clear or Bi1 espesanteit may be sufficient to increase the consistency of liquid foods and prevent aspiration episodes.

If the dysphagia worsens and makes it difficult to ingest any liquid or solid or semi-solid food, it will be necessary to use feeding tubes, either through a nasoenteral tube or an ostomy. Taking into account the energy and protein needs, a normocaloric and normoprotein nutrition with fiber(Bi1 via fibra)a hypercaloric and hyperprotein with fiberBi1 via hp/hcor a diabeticBi1 via diacare hp/hc o Bi1 via diacare).