Detecting swallowing problems prevents pneumonia

	Tweet

The rate of pneumonia is lower in hospitals that have formal screening programs to detected swallowing difficulties (Dysphagia) in Stroke patients, investigators in the United States report. They say a screening program could prevent thousands of pneumonia cases and deaths.

Besides not receiving proper nutrition, Stroke patients with dysphagia are at risk for inhaling food or liquid when they try to eat, which can lead to aspiration pneumonia, a serious complication. Several published guidelines recommend that a swallow evaluation be performed for Stroke patients before they try to eat, Dr. Judith A. Hinchey, of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, and associates note.

For their study, published in the medical journal Stroke, Hinchey’s group reviewed records of 2,532 patients treated for Stroke between 2001 and 2003 at 15 healthcare institutions.

Six of the 15 sites had a formal dysphagia screening program. Dysphagia screening was conducted in 78 percent of patients at sites with screening programs, versus 56 percent at sites with no formal program.

At hospitals with no formal program, screening was more likely among patients with higher stroke scores, suggesting that “hospitals with a formal program include screening on all patients, whereas other hospitals may only think of performing a screen on patients who, by intuitive criteria, are at higher risk of pneumonia.”

Pneumonia rates were significantly lower at sites that had formal written protocols, 2.4 percent versus 5.4 percent. The authors found that having a formal screening protocol decreased the odds of pneumonia by three-fold after accounting for Stroke severity.

“If instituting a formal dysphagia screening protocol prevented just one half of the poststroke pneumonias,” the investigators say, “it could save nearly 8,300 lives and prevent nearly 40,000 pneumonias per year (based on 700,000 strokes per year).”

SOURCE: Stroke, September 2005.

RELATED STORIES:
Meloxicam leads to few stomach upsets   ACG Monthly Cimzia Controls Symptoms of Crohn’s for 24 Weeks   “Good” bacteria help irritable bowel syndrome   Hispanics face longer wait for emergency GI care   Drug curbs chronic constipation   Peptic ulcers often seen in low-dose aspirin users   Link Between Gastric Bypass Surgery and Neurological Conditions   Crohn’s disease may respond to parasite therapy   Crohn’s disease ups risk of intestinal cancer   Hypnosis may improve irritable bowel disorder   Incisionless Surgery To Correct Acid Reflux Disease   Lifestyle changes can affect heartburn symptoms

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]