Had Stroke, Barium Swallow Test Still Shows Some Aspiration. Suggest Treatment Available Post Stroke Dysphasia?
Thank you for contacting XXXXXXX with your question. This is a very complex
problem and there are no easy answers. From my own experience with
my patients with stroke many recovered on their own with improvement
of stroke with rehabilitation etc.
But unfortunately some cases never get better and end up with a feeding
tube permanently to maintain nutrition. I see that your husband is 53 years
young and I have a feeling that he might have spontaneous improvement
in swallowing .
If his speech is also affected , I am sure his rehabilitation team includes
speech pathologist and therapist. Stroke patients can forget to swallow
and this has been known. Speech therapist can play an important role
in this. There have been some reports of limited success using electrical
stimulation but not very helpful.
Nutritional measures such as consistency of foods are important.
Position of the head , tilting the head down with liquids or tilting up
for solids may be tried.
I am not sure how long has it been since his stroke but I hope and pray
that he will recover spontaneously.