Browsing by Author "Björkman, Kajsa"

Background: Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is an established non-invasive and radiation-safe evaluation method of the pharyngeal swallowing function. The focus is in the diagnosis of dysphagia, consideration of its treatment and in finding compensation techniques for impaired swallowing. We aimed at investigating the feasibility and outcome of FEES at our institution. Patients and Methods: The study group comprised all the 117 patients who had a FEES performed during the years 2011 and 2012 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Results: Patients who were considered otherwise healthy prior to FEES presented significantly more often with globus symptoms compared with patients with a neurological disorder (p=0.009) or those diagnosed with a head and neck (HN) malignancy (p=0.011). Patients with a neurological disorder had significantly more aspiration (p=0.014), suffered more from swallowing initiation difficulties (p=0.031) and more often had a pneumonia (p<0.005) compared to the patients who had been considered healthy. Aspiration and pneumonia correlated with the underlying disease (r=0.382 p<0.005), as well as with the degree of dysphagia. Conclusions: FEES served well as a second-stage diagnostic tool for dysphagia in a multidisciplinary environment. Patients with no obvious underlying cause for dysphagia presented more often with globus, compared to patients with a diagnosed malignant tumour in the head and neck region, or with a neurological diagnosis. Aspiration, pneumonia and the degree of dysphagia correlated with the underlying cause of dysphagia.