Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Diagnosing dysphagia in acute stroke patients is crucial, as this comorbidity determines morbidity and mortality; we therefore investigated the impact of flexible nasolaryngeal endoscopy FEES in acute stroke patients.
The FEES investigation as performed in acute stroke patients treated at a large university hospital, allocated as a standard procedure for all patients suspected of dysphagia. We correlated our findings with baseline data, disability status, pneumonia, duration of hospitalisation, necessity for mechanical ventilation and treatment on the intensive care unit. The study was designed as a cross-sectional hospital-based registry.
We investigated patients. The median age was 73; 94 were male. Ischemic stroke was diagnosed in patients Oropharyngeal dysphagia was diagnosed in Short-term mortality was higher among patients diagnosed with dysphagia 7. FEES examinations revealed that only Due to the inability of clinical assessments to detect silent aspiration, FEES might be better suited to identify stroke patients at risk and may contribute to a better functional outcome and lower rates of pneumonia and mortality.
Our findings also point to a low awareness of dysphagia, even in a specialised stroke centre. FEES in acute stroke patients helps to adjust the oral diet for the vast majority of stroke patients Dysphagia occurs in the course of many neurological diseases and frequently determines the outcome [ 1 ] with stroke being the most common cause.
Pneumonia due to dysphagia is the leading cause of death in stroke patients [ 3 ]. The risk for pneumonia increases up to Hyperthermia, that can be caused by the pneumonia-associated fever, is known to be associated with a worse functional outcome in stroke [ 4 ]. Another known factor associated with a worse outcome in stroke patients is new or pre-existing malnutrition, which can also be caused by dysphagia [ 5 ].
