Eating and drinking, for hydration, nutrition and pleasure, is a vital part of our life. Difficulty swallowing can limit what people can eat and drink, leading to frustration, stress and even health problems. Show
Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty in swallowing. This includes problems with sucking, swallowing, drinking, chewing, eating, dribbling saliva, closing lips, or when food or drink goes down the wrong way. Early signs of dysphagia are coughing, gagging or choking while eating and drinking. Dysphagia is a common problem affecting elderly people. It can lead to aspiration, which means food or drink go into the airway rather than the stomach. Dysphagia and aspiration can lead to dehydration, malnutrition and pneumonia. For these reasons, and also because dysphagia can be caused by serious medical conditions, if you think you or someone you care for has difficulty in swallowing, talk to your or their doctor. What causes dysphagia?Common causes include reflux and problems with the nervous system, muscles or structures of the head and neck. RefluxReflux occurs when stomach acid leaks from the stomach and moves up into the oesophagus. Read more about reflux here. Nervous system problemsConditions that damage the brain and nerves can cause dysphagia, including: Muscle problemsMuscle problems of the face or neck, or spasms of the oesophagus, can cause problems with swallowing. Structural problemsSwallowing problems can also develop due to damage to structures such as the lip or palate. Sometimes growths like some cancers of airway or oesophagus can cause swallowing difficulties. Signs and symptoms of dysphagiaSigns and symptoms of dysphagia include:
Babies that have difficulty sucking during breast or bottle feeding could have dysphagia. How is dysphagia diagnosed?Your doctor will ask about symptoms, examine you and might also refer you for tests such as:
How is dysphagia treated?If you have dysphagia, the most appropriate treatment will depend on the cause. Treatment can include:
In severe cases, you might need to change to a liquid diet, or have food and drink through a feeding tube that goes directly into your stomach. A range of health professionals can help with dysphagia, including doctors, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dietitians and lactation consultants. More informationFor more information on dysphagia, see your doctor or a speech pathologist. You can also contact the Stroke Foundation or mndcare. To check your symptoms, use healthdirect's online Symptom Checker.
Use this nursing diagnosis guide to help you create nursing interventions for impaired swallowing nursing care plan. Impaired swallowing involves more time and effort to transfer food or liquid from the mouth to the stomach. It occurs when the muscles and nerves that help move food through the throat and esophagus are not working right. It can be a temporary or permanent complication that can be fatal. Aspiration of food or fluid can also occur possibly brought about by a structural problem, interruption or dysfunction of neural pathways, decreased strength or excursion of muscles involved in mastication, facial paralysis, or perceptual impairment. The swallowing muscles can become weak with age or inactivity. It is a common complaint among older adults, in those individuals who have had a stroke, suffered head trauma, have head or neck cancer, or experience progressive neurological diseases as of multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Dysphagia can befall at any age, but it’s more prevalent in older adults. Dysphagia can befall at any age, but it’s more prevalent in older adults. The causes of swallowing problems vary, and treatment depends on the cause. Nursing AssessmentAssessment is necessary to determine potential problems that may have lead to dysphagia as well as handle any difficulty that may appear during nursing care.
Nursing InterventionsThe following are the therapeutic nursing interventions for impaired swallowing:
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