The influence of sour taste and cold temperature in pharyngeal transit duration in patients with stroke.
BACKGROUND
The effect of sour taste and food temperature variations in dysphagic patients has not been entirely clarified.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of sour and cold food in the pharyngeal transit times of patients with stroke.


METHODS
Patients participating in this study were 30 right-handed adults, 16 of which were male and 14 were female, aged 41 to 88 (average age 62.3 years) with ictus varying from 1 to 30 days (median of 6 days). To analyze the pharyngeal transit time a videofluoroscopy swallow test was performed. Each patient was observed during swallow of a 5 mL paste bolus given by spoon, totaling four different stimuli (natural, cold, sour and cold sour), one at a time, room temperature (22 degrees C) and cold (8 degrees C) were used. Later, the tests were analyzed using specific software to measure bolus transit time during the pharyngeal phase.


RESULTS
The results showed that the pharyngeal transit time was significantly shorter during swallow of cold sour bolus when compared with other stimuli.


CONCLUSIONS
Sour taste stimuli associated to cold temperature cause significant change in swallowing patterns, by shortening the pharyngeal transit time, which may lead to positive effects in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia.
Department of Surgery, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP (São Paulo State University), Botucatu, SP, Brazil. paccola@hotmail.com
Paula Cristina
PC
Cola
Ana Rita
AR
Gatto
Roberta Gonçalves da
RG
Silva
André Augusto
AA
Spadotto
Arthur Oscar
AO
Schelp
Maria Aparecida Coelho de Arruda
MA
Henry
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010614:Pharynx / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014741:Video Recording