title: Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing in intensive care unit patients.
abstract: Aspiration in critically ill patients frequently causes severe co-morbidity. We evaluated a diagnostic protocol using routine FEES in critically ill patients at risk to develop aspiration following extubation. We instructed intensive care unit physicians on specific risk factors for and clinical signs of aspiration following extubation in critically ill patients and offered bedside FEES for such patients. Over a 45-month period, we were called to perform 913 endoscopic examinations in 553 patients. Silent aspiration or aspiration with acute symptoms (cough or gag reflex as the bolus passed into the trachea) was detected in 69.3% of all patients. Prolonged non-oral feeding via a naso-gastric tube was initiated in 49.7% of all patients. In 13.2% of patients, a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was initiated as a result of FEES findings, and in 6.3% an additional tracheotomy to prevent aspiration had to be initiated. In 59 out of 258 patients (22.9%), tracheotomies were closed, and 30.7% of all 553 patients could be managed with the immediate onset of an oral diet and compensatory treatment procedures. Additional radiological examinations were not required. FEES in critically ill patients allows for a rapid evaluation of deglutition and for the immediate initiation of symptom-related rehabilitation or for an early resumption of oral feeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Klagenfurt General Hospital, A.ö. Landeskrankenhaus Klagenfurt, HNO, St. Veiter Str. 47, 9027 Klagenfurt, Austria.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hafner
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neuhuber
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirtenfelder
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmedler
authors.forename: Hans Edmund
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Eckel
mesh_terms: D016638:Critical Illness; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D053120:Respiratory Aspiration / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013997:Time Factors