Transnasal endoscopic evaluation of swallowing: a bedside technique to evaluate ability to swallow pureed diets in elderly patients with dysphagia.
BACKGROUND
Endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (EES) is not commonly used by gastroenterologists to evaluate swallowing in patients with dysphagia.


OBJECTIVE
To use transnasal endoscopy to identify factors predicting successful or failed swallowing of pureed foods in elderly patients with dysphagia.


METHODS
EES of pureed foods was performed by a gastroenterologist using a small-calibre transnasal endoscope. Factors related to successful versus unsuccessful swallowing of pureed foods were analyzed with regard to age, comorbid diseases, swallowing activity, saliva pooling, vallecular residues, pharyngeal residues and airway penetration⁄aspiration. Unsuccessful swallowing was defined in patients who could not eat pureed foods at bedside during hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of swallowing of pureed foods.


RESULTS
During a six-year period, 458 consecutive patients (mean age 80 years [range 39 to 97 years]) were considered for the study, including 285 (62%) men. Saliva pooling, vallecular residues, pharyngeal residues and penetration⁄aspiration were found in 240 (52%), 73 (16%), 226 (49%) and 232 patients (51%), respectively. Overall, 247 patients (54%) failed to swallow pureed foods. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of pharyngeal residues (OR 6.0) and saliva pooling (OR 4.6) occurred significantly more frequently in patients who failed to swallow pureed foods.


CONCLUSIONS
Pharyngeal residues and saliva pooling predicted impaired swallowing of pureed foods. Transnasal EES performed by a gastroenterologist provided a unique bedside method of assessing the ability to swallow pureed foods in elderly patients with dysphagia.
Department of Rehabilitation, Showa Inan General Hospital, Komagane, Japan.
Torao
T
Sakamoto
Akira
A
Horiuchi
Yoshiko
Y
Nakayama
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019723:Endoscopes; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004825:Epiglottis / Q000503:physiopathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005526:Food, Formulated / Q000145:classification*; D005762:Gastroenterology; D005931:Glottis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007830:Larynx / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose; D010614:Pharynx / Q000503:physiopathology; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D053120:Respiratory Aspiration / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology; D014059:Tongue / Q000503:physiopathology; D014132:Trachea / Q000503:physiopathology; D014741:Video Recording / Q000295:instrumentation; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000503:physiopathology