Improving Swallow Ability

This 81-year-old woman was admitted to a skilled nursing facility following hospitalization for acute respiratory failure. She was intubated (tube inserted in airway to assist with breathing), had pneumonia caused by aspiration (material entering the lungs), and oropharyngeal dysphagia (difficulty chewing and swallowing). As a result, she was referred for speech language pathology (SLP) services. Although she had a history of dysphagia from previous spinal surgery, she was able to consume a diet of regular food and thin liquids prior to this hospitalization.

Speech Therapy: (5x/week x 4 weeks)
Synchrony Dysphagia Solutions by ACP® Portable with OmnisEMG™ Biofeedback

• Effortful swallow and Mendelson maneuvers using Kangaroo virtual reality representation of the muscle output to improve strength and coordination

Additional Interventions

• Patient and caregiver education – swallowing exercise and oral care

Synchrony Portable

Authors:
Andreé Akst, PT, MPT, CEEAA, NASM-CES, Clinical Services Content Specialist
Dawn Morrow, MA CCC-SLP, Clinical Program Consultant

PSS-00012