Detecting dysphagia or difficulty swallowing within 24 hours of a stroke (CVA) is "essential" to avoid "serious problems such as infection by aspiration or malnutrition" in the patient and can "resume oral intake," they say the specialists

 

According to the data of Dysphagia, the problems to treat patients to 50% of the patients after a stroke. Although the majority recover the swallowing function at a week, between 11 and 13% continue to present dysphagia at six months, which "can put the patient at nutritional risk if it is not treated properly".

 

In the first 24 hours of the ACV events, it is essential to detect if there is any problem swallowing. It is recommended to perform a clinical detection first and if it is positive, use other evaluation techniques such as videodeglution.

 

There are also studies that indicate that only 45% of patients with dysphagia feel comfortable with food and four out of ten (41%) experience anxiety or panic when eating.

 

Dysphagia after a stroke occurs because the patient presents difficulties in the swallowing mechanism, risk that a food, solid or liquid, instead of entering the digestive tract do so towards the airway. The most feared complication is aspiration pneumonia.

 

A swallow is safe if the patient is not at risk of respiratory infections, and is effective if there is no compromise of malnutrition. The difficulty in swallowing after a stroke can last over time, and many times the consistency of liquids and food must be modified until the most appropriate one is found. It is not the same quality of life that of the patient who has to be fed by external elements than the one who does not need them. The priority is that you reinsert yourself into social life, and eating as a family is part of that.

 

A series of recommendations to follow during the patient's intake, such as "keep him sitting with his back in contact with the back of the chair and his feet flat on the floor, with the trunk as close as possible to 90 degrees."

 

Similarly, it is advisable to raise the head to 60 degrees if the person is in bed, ensure the fixation of the dental prosthesis before ingestion and verify that the mouth is empty before the next bite.