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478 R. Speyer
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studies on the effects of therapy in oropharyngeal dysphagia give little attention to the effects on quality of life (Speyer et al. 2010). In contrast, the literature on the effects of dysphonia or voice problems suggests that quality-of-life questionnaires are essential to multidimensional voice assessment (Speyer 2008).
Dysphagia can be caused by a variety of diseases (e.g. neurological causes such as cerebrovascular accidents or degenerative diseases). But it can also manifest itself as a side effect of treatment, for example, by radiation or surgical intervention in patients with head and neck cancer. Usually, a team of specialists will be involved in the diagnosis and treatment. Within a multidisciplinary context or interdisciplinary setting, each caregiver will focus on a particular aspect of the swallowing problems. In general, after the initial assessment and treatment by medical specialists, nurses may be the first to perform any bedside screening focused on dysphagia (Bours et al. 2009). Subsequently, speech therapists may take charge of any further assessment of the swallow mechanism, the choice of behavioural intervention, and the follow-up evaluation. In the event of malnutrition or dehydration, or if there is a severe nutritional risk, dieticians are involved to ensure the patient has a sufficient caloric intake and provide the patient with nutritional supplements if necessary. Additionally, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, or psychologists may be involved in the multidisciplinary manage­ment of dysphagia.
Depending on the dysphagic findings, swallowing treatment may include medical, surgical, and/or behavioural options (Crary and Groher 2003). The medical option could entail dietary modifications to address underlying disease (e.g. diabetes or hyper­tension) or pharmacological treatment (e.g. antireflux medication or mucolytics). The surgical option covers a range of interventions: to improve glottal closure by medialization thyroplasty or injection of biomaterials; to enhance airway protection (e.g. total laryngec­tomy); or to optimize the pharyngo-oesophageal segment opening by stretching the lumen of the seg­ment by dilation, surgical myotomy of the cricopha­ryngeal muscle, or chemodenervation using botulinum toxin injection. This chapter focuses on the third option: treatment by speech therapists using behavioural techniques.
Langmore (2001) described three patterns of dysphagia: the ineffective swallow or incomplete bolus clearance; the misdirected swallow or impaired airway protection due to incomplete valving; and the delayed or mistimed swallow. Regarding the motor control of swallowing, the physiological parameters are intact sensation, briskness of initiation of move­ment, speed of movement, force or strength of movement, and amplitude of movement, as well as precision, timing, and coordination of movement. Therapeutic strategies used in swallowing therapy can be classified as rehabilitative and/or compensatory (Huckabee and Pelletier 1999). Interventions that are mainly intended to restore or improve the actual swallowing function are referred to as rehabilitative techniques. Compensatory techniques, in contrast, are intended to improve the ability to adapt and cope with the problem. Laryngeal adductor exercises to improve laryngeal valving are among the rehabilitative inter­ventions, whereas strategies—such as the chin tuck posture—to improve laryngeal protection or the use of bolus modification are considered compensatory techniques.
Behavioural treatment of oropharyngeal dysphagia as performed by speech therapists may include a range of interventions: (1) bolus modification and management; (2) sensory and motor behavioural techniques; (3) postural adjustments; and (4) swallow manoeuvres—or any combination of these (Speyer et al. 2010). Bolus modification refers to adjusting the viscosity, volume, temperature, and/or acidity of the bolus. The second category includes oral motor exercises but also facilitation techniques that cover a variety of interventions, ranging from surface elec­trical stimulation to thermal application at the anterior faucial pillars. Behavioural techniques commonly used to modify the swallow mechanism are postural adjustments and swallow manoeuvres. Postural adjustments involve whole-body and head-position strategies. Swallow manoeuvres include the (super) supraglottic swallow, the Mendelsohn manoeuvre, the effortful swallow, the Masako manoeuvre, and the Shaker exercise, among others. Adjunctive biofeed­back may be used to facilitate processes of complex motor learning. In the following sections, these techniques will be described in detail.
It is now widely accepted that medical treatments should be scrutinized by scientific methods. This implies that paramedical therapies should also be
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evaluated according to current standards of evidence­based medicine. An evaluation of therapy in oropha­ryngeal dysphagia thus falls squarely into this area of growing interest (Speyer et al. 2010). Besides describing the behavioural techniques commonly used in dysphagia therapy, studies should provide information on the effects of therapy in oropharyngeal dysphagia and the methodological issues that arise in the literature. Moreover, outcome studies are essential in order for caregivers to adjust and improve therapy for patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia.
2 Choice of Intervention Techniques
After medical and swallowing assessment, there may be a need for further intervention by speech thera­pists. However, many considerations may influence which intervention techniques are indicated for a particular patient.
First of all, many strategies require a patient’s full cooperation as well as the capacity to follow complex instructions under the supervision of a therapist. It may be almost impossible to explain and teach certain strategies to patients with severe cognitive limita­tions. Furthermore, a patient has to be internally motivated or else have support from close relatives in order to keep trying. Having family support or moti­vated caregivers is essential, especially for the implementation of newly learned swallowing behav­iours or compensation strategies in daily life.
When making decisions about oral feeding, one has to take the patient’s general health into account. The estimated safety of oral intake must be set off against the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Concerns about malnutrition or frailty, particularly among the elderly (Rofes et al. 2011), may call for additional tube feeding combined with nutritional supplements. Oral feeding may be fatiguing and thus place a burden on the patient. But the taste and smell of food or drink may also be rewarding and motivating, allowing the patient to enjoy family meals. In fact, participating in daily dining routines might have a huge impact on the patient’s quality of life. It is important to take a patient’s food preferences and cultural background into account when advising on the possibilities of oral intake and on the use of food or liquid boluses in therapeutic settings. It should be realized that even when physicians and therapists consider oral intake to
be no longer safe, a patient may still refuse tube feeding because of the reduced quality of life asso­ciated with such an intervention.
Obviously, the choice of interventions is also determined by the medical diagnosis and corre­sponding prognosis for a disease. For example, for someone diagnosed with neuromuscular disease, rehabilitative techniques may result in fatigue and exhaustion instead of increased muscle strength. Also, if spontaneous recovery of the swallowing functions can be expected during the acute period after a recent cerebrovascular accident, compensatory techniques may suffice to achieve sufficient oral intake. On the other hand, in palliative care, intervention will be restricted to minimize the effects of the dysphagia and optimize a patient’s quality of life during the dying phase (Veerbeek 2008).
Finally, cultural aspects may influence the way swallowing disorders are treated. Basically, care for dysphagia may be organized differently in different countries. National health systems may differ in the ratio of therapists to patients being hospitalized and treated. Or the training provided for therapists may differ with respect to the material being taught or the level of education required for certification. Besides national differences, the preferences or expertise of individual therapists will also influence the treatment. Decisions on therapy frequency, length of therapy sessions, and treatment period, as well as the behav­ioural techniques applied, all play a role in the out­come of swallowing therapy.
3 Behavioural Treatment
of Dysphagia
Regarding the range of behavioural interventions used in oropharyngeal dysphagia, various strategies may be found in the literature. The most common techniques and therapeutic approaches that can be applied by speech and language therapists are covered in the following five subsections.
Bolus modification and management will be con­sidered first, followed by sensory and motor behav­ioural techniques. Next, postural adjustments to facilitate swallowing will be presented. This third category includes general body positions such as lying down or side-lying. It also includes head posi­tions, particularly adjustments such as head extension,
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flexion, rotation, or tilt. The fourth category consists of a variety of swallow manoeuvres: the supraglottic and super supraglottic swallow; the Mendelsohn manoeuvre; the effortful swallow; the Masako manoeuvre; and the Shaker exercise. Finally, the application of biofeedback will be discussed in the fifth subsection.
3.1 Bolus Modification and Management
Bolus modification and management is an approach that amounts to adjusting parameters such as vis­cosity, volume, temperature, and/or acidity of the bolus (Speyer et al. 2010). Modifying the rheologic properties of food and liquids may be one of the most common strategies applied by therapists. Ways to modify a food’s consistency may vary from the use of commercial agents for thickening liquids to the blending of solid foods. By thickening thin liq­uids, clinicians seek to decelerate the bolus transport into the pharynx. By giving the patient more time to handle the bolus, one reduces the risk of penetration or aspiration. Thicker liquids may be helpful in the case of a delayed or mistimed swallow (Langmore
2001). Solid foods can be modified with a blender or
masher. This reduces the need for chewing by smoothing the particulate nature of certain boluses or by blending foods of a mixed consistency. Patients who fatigue easily and are at risk of malnutrition may benefit from such a modified diet because of the diminished amount of effort required for swallowing. Those patients who have difficulty clearing a bolus may also show improved swallow behaviour when managing boluses of smoothed consistencies com­pared with handling crumbly or noncohesive foods. In the latter case, when food consistencies do not allow easy bolus-forming or preparation for swal­lowing, adding liquids may be considered. Smooth­ened bolus consistencies reduce the amount of pharyngeal residue, thereby reducing the risk of delayed aspiration as well. There is great variety in the clinical terminology used for different bolus consistencies, and consensus is lacking. However, to determine the effectiveness of modifying food and liquids in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia and to compare study outcomes, uniform definitions for the rheologic properties of foods and liquids should be used (Dealy 1995).
To determine the appropriate volume of food or liquid boluses, the caregiver must know the patient’s capacity to control and secure a safe oropharyngeal bolus transit with minimal amount of postswallow residue. Larger quantities may require optimal alert­ness of the swallow mechanism, whereas boluses that are too small may provide insufficient sensory stim­ulus to initiate the swallowing act, as seen in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Baijens and Speyer 2009). Swallowing may also be influenced by temperature; colder boluses are thought to trigger a quicker onset of the swallowing reflex. Improved timing has also been found when using acid boluses (Logemann et al.
1995). Naturally, when applying bolus modification,
one should keep in mind that achieving an optimal taste and smell—that is, adjusted to an individual’s preference—will provide rewarding and motivating factors, which can improve the oral intake and in turn the health status of a patient.
3.2 Sensory and Motor Behavioural
Techniques
Swallowing is the result of combined forces produc­ing bolus passage through the pharynx and avoiding the larynx or airway (Langmore 2001). A normal sensory awareness in the oral cavity and pharynx is crucial to secure bolus manipulation and transporta­tion. Lips, tongue, palate, and mandible have to operate in a coordinated order. Recruitment of ade­quate muscle strength, accuracy, and coordination thus results in a safe swallow. Therapists often draw upon sensory stimulation and oral motor exercises as part of dysphagia treatment in an effort to modify the swallow mechanism.
3.2.1 Oral Motor Exercises
The purpose of using oral motor exercises is to increase awareness of the bolus, to control and direct its passage, and to maximize the driving and propul­sive force of the bolus in transit to the oropharynx. The exercises can address the various features of motor function: muscle strength, range of movement, muscle tone, steadiness, and accuracy. But regaining muscle function in terms of strength, range, and tone will in itself not result in normal swallowing unless the coordination of the swallow mechanism has been optimized as well.
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During the oral phase of swallowing, labial awareness and control are essential to achieve ade­quate lip closure and prevent drooling. There are exercises for the tongue to improve bolus propulsion, which is created by posterior tongue thrust, and to diminish bolus pocketing or the amount of residue, as well as to reduce the risk of preswallow aspiration because of failure of bolus control (Robbins et al.
2007). Stretching exercises may improve the range of
mandible movement in patients with reduced flexi­bility. Nasal regurgitation might be diminished by stimulating the soft palatal closure using velopha­ryngeal closure exercises.
3.2.2 Sensory Stimulation
Sensory stimulation activities may involve changing the taste of boluses or their temperature, applying pressure, or using neuromuscular electrical stimula­tion. It has been theorized that providing a sensory stimulus before a swallow attempt may serve as an alert or trigger to the nervous system and thereby help prepare the swallow mechanism for the subsequent swallow.
Effects of the use of sour boluses have been described in the literature, suggesting that an alter­ation is induced in swallowing behaviour—for instance, improved timing of the onset of swallowing (Logemann et al. 1995). Usually, tactile–thermal application procedures consist of cold, tactile stimuli. These may be presented to the anterior faucial pillars by stroking the pillars with an ice stick (Rosenbek et al. 1998) or with a cold laryngeal mirror taken from a cup of ice. These procedures are thought to reduce the delay in the initiation of swallowing, primarily in the pharyngeal phase. Besides temperature stimula­tion, pressure may be used to improve sensory awareness. For example, a spoon can be used to apply light pressure to the blade of the tongue during swallowing exercises.
3.2.3 Electrical Stimulation
The use of electrical stimulation has been the subject of several recent studies (Blumenfeld et al. 2006; Bülow et al. 2008; Ludlow et al. 2007; Power et al.
2006; Shaw et al. 2007). Surface electrical stimulation
(neuromuscular electrical stimulation) activates mus­cles by stimulating the intact peripheral motor nerves. The main treatment goals are to strengthen weak muscles and to help in the recovery of motor control
(Freed and Wijting 2003). Stimulation at the motor level can be distinguished from stimulation at the sensory level. As defined by Ludlow et al. (2007), motor stimulation is the maximum tolerated stimula­tion level resulting in maximum muscle contraction without spasm. The level of sensory stimulation is set by gradually raising the intensity of the current until the patient reports the first sensation of stimulation, usually a tingling of the skin. Depending on the exact placement of skin electrodes in the neck and face, different groups of muscles are stimulated.
3.3 Postural Adjustments
Postural adjustment may involve head positioning strategies such as head-turn or chin-tuck manoeuvres or whole-body positioning strategies. In the literature, it has been shown that adjusting the head and/or body position can reduce or eliminate the risk of aspiration (Lewin et al. 2001; Logemann et al. 1994a; Rasley et al. 1993; Shanahan et al. 1993). Postural variations redirect and facilitate the bolus flow; they may improve oral and pharyngeal transit times, and they decrease the amount of residue after swallowing (Bogaert et al. 2003). These techniques are intended to change the dimensions of the oropharynx in order to accomplish a safer swallow by compensating for anatomic deficiencies, sensory loss, or a reduced propulsion or clearance of the bolus. Postural adjustments can be introduced as temporary tech­niques during the process of recovery of the swal­lowing function. Alternatively, they may become a permanent compensatory technique after rehabilita­tion to facilitate the changed swallow motor pattern or mechanism.
3.3.1 General Postural Adjustments
General postural adjustments usually concern body postures such as lying down or side-lying. Both of these postures reduce the effects of gravity during swallowing and the amount of postswallow residue. Side-lying may be beneficial when there is a differ­ence in pharyngeal function between the left and the right side. The patient must lie down on the stronger side, thereby using gravity to direct the bolus or residue towards the stronger and/or more sensitive hemipharynx (Drake et al. 1997). However, changing the posture may have a negative influence on the
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oesophageal motor functions. Patients with suspected gastro-oesophageal reflux disease or poor oesopha­geal motility may benefit from an upright position during and after feeding. In the case of nocturnal reflux, head-of-bed elevation may be recommended during the night, thus reducing or prohibiting acid reflux from the oesophagus.
3.3.2 Head Postural Adjustment
Head postural adjustment includes the following positions: head flexion, head extension, head rotation, and head tilt. Head flexion, also called chin tuck, narrows the oropharynx and shortens the distance between the hyoid and the larynx, thus narrowing the laryngeal entrance (Bülow et al. 2001). It facilitates airway protection and may be used in patients with difficulties in oral control or timing. However, head flexion may also result in a weaker pharyngeal contraction during swallowing, causing problems of bolus propulsion in patients with pharyngeal weakness.
Unlike flexion, the aim of head extension is to widen the oropharynx by raising the chin, resulting in a head-back position. An extended head adjustment uses gravity for bolus propulsion into the pharynx. It may be useful in patients showing deficiencies in oral control and bolus transport during the oral (prepara­tory) phase of swallowing. Head extension can only be used in patients with an intact pharyngeal phase. Head extension may also have a negative impact on the pharyngo-oesophageal segment, increasing the intraluminal pressure and decreasing the duration of relaxation of the segment (Crary and Groher
2003). Furthermore, head extension reduces laryngeal
closure. Thus, the swallowing outcome may deterio­rate in patients with diminished laryngeal airway protection or deficits in pharyngo-oesophageal seg­ment functioning.
The head rotation or head-turn manoeuvre is mainly used in patients with unilateral deficits (unilateral pharyngeal or vocal fold paralysis or pare­sis). Rotating the head towards the weakened side before swallowing results in the swallowing tract or piriform sinus on this damaged side being narrowed or even closed off. This directs the bolus down the stron­ger side (Logemannet al. 1989). Thecricoid cartilage is pulled away from the posterior pharyngeal wall, reducing the pressure in the cricopharyngeal sphincter and thereby increasing the size of sphincter opening.
This, in turn, will reduce amount of bolus residue after swallowing as well as the risk of aspiration.
If the patient has unilateral oral and pharyngeal weakness on the same side, the head-tilt adjustment can be applied. When the head is tilted to the stronger side prior to the swallow, the bolus is directed down to the stronger side by utilizing the effects of gravity, thus reducing the amount of bolus residue (Rasley et al. 1993).
3.4 Swallow Manoeuvres
Apart from sensory and motor behavioural techniques or postural adjustments, behavioural swallowing therapy may combine a variety of swallow manoeu­vres. These allow the patients to gain improved and voluntary control of the swallowing process, includ­ing bolus propulsion and airway protection. Many of these manoeuvres require active patient participation and intensive practice to induce the necessary physi­ological modification of the swallow mechanism.
3.4.1 Supraglottic Swallow
The supraglottic swallow manoeuvre may be suitable and advisable under certain conditions: in the event of restricted airway protection or risk of aspiration as a result of a delayed pharyngeal swallow, a reduced or late vocal fold closure, or laryngeal sensory deficits. The manoeuvre consists of several steps. Patients are first asked to inhale and hold their breath. Next, they place a bolus in the mouth and swallow while still holding their breath. Then, after swallowing and before inhaling, patients cough voluntarily. Finally, they swallow again. The aim of this manoeuvre is to close the vocal folds by holding one’s breath and to clear any possible residue from the laryngeal vesti­bule that may have entered while swallowing (Logemann 1998). However, vocal fold closure may not always be achieved in patients when holding their breath.
3.4.2 Super Supraglottic Swallow
Patients who do not succeed in bringing about the required airway protective closure during the supra­glottic swallow manoeuvre need to perform a forceful breath-hold or super supraglottic swallow manoeuvre. Adding force to the swallow manoeuvre increases the chances of establishing a complete vocal fold closure
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and may promote shorter swallowing transit times (Logemann 1998). Patient instruction is similar to that given during the supraglottic swallow manoeuvre, except for the request to bear down hard instead of just performing a swallow act. The rationale for applying either the supraglottic manoeuvre or the super supraglottic manoeuvre is similar. The differ­ence lies in the amount of effort required. Bearing down causes the arytenoid muscles to be tilted ante­riorly, closing the false vocal folds as well as the entrance to the trachea.
3.4.3 Mendelsohn Manoeuvre
The aim of the Mendelsohn manoeuvre is to increase the extent and duration of laryngeal elevation and thereby enhance the duration and width of the crico­pharyngeal opening (Logemann 1999). While the upper oesophageal sphincter is open, bolus transfer may be facilitated, leaving less oropharyngeal resi­due. It is hypothesized that prolonging the swallow at the peak of hyolaryngeal elevation and pharyngeal contraction causes the frequency and the amount of aspiration to decline owing to improved upper oesophageal sphincter opening. The manoeuvre is designed for patients with a reduced range of laryngeal movement or a discoordinated swallow. Patients are instructed to press lightly on the thyroid cartilage with their fingers, keeping it in a raised position for several seconds directly after swallowing. Because the instruction to patients could be confusing and difficult to translate into practice, it may be advisable to offer adjunctive biofeedback such as surface electromyography during training. With electromyographic biofeedback, patients will have immediate visualization of their muscle activity while learning the Mendelsohn manoeuvre.
3.4.4 Effortful Swallow
The effortful swallow is also known as the hard swallow manoeuvre. The technique increases the posterior motion of the tongue base during the pha­ryngeal swallow, thereby improving bolus clearance from the valleculae (Logemann 1999). Thus, the effortful swallow may be recommended in the case of reduced posterior movement of the tongue base or reduced oropharyngeal pressure. During training, the patient is instructed to squeeze with maximal effort while swallowing. This manoeuvre is considered to be easily taught and easily implemented. However,
because it may be difficult to determine which mus­cles are being activated or recruited and to what degree, instrumental measurements or biofeedback (e.g. surface electromyography) may be useful during rehabilitation.
3.4.5 Masako Manoeuvre
During swallowing, the pharyngeal wall tends to bulge forwards, contacting the tongue base. It is hypothesized that pushing the tongue out and holding the anterior tongue between the teeth while swal­lowing will increase tongue base pressure and dura­tion of contact with the posterior pharyngeal wall. This technique is known as the Masako manoeuvre or tongue holding. In the case of lingual weakness, for example after oral surgery, it might be considered a rehabilitative technique (Lazarus et al. 2002). By practising the Masako manoeuvre, the patient may train the pharyngeal wall to compensate for the lack of posterior tongue movement. The presumed result will be improved contact between the tongue base and the pharyngeal wall, thus creating a pressure source for bolus propulsion through the oropharynx. It is not advisable to combine this manoeuvre with swallowing food boluses because of the reduced duration of airway closure, the increased amount of residue after swallowing, and the increased delay in pharyngeal swallow initiation (Crary and Groher
2003).
3.4.6 Shaker Exercise
The Shaker exercise, otherwise known as the iso­tonic/isometric exercise, serves as rehabilitative training of the suprahyoid muscles responsible for the opening of the upper oesophageal sphincter. This manoeuvre may solve the problem of a reduced cricopharyngeal opening, thus decreasing the amount of postswallow residue. Patients are instructed to lie supine and raise their head without raising their shoulders. This position is maintained for about 1 min, after which the patient will rest before repeating this head-raising manoeuvre. A suprahyoid muscle-strengthening exercise programme has been found to be effective in patients with deglutitive failure due to an abnormal upper oesophageal sphincter opening. The exercise stimulates the res­toration of oral feeding, diminishes the amount of postdeglutitive residue, and resolves aspiration (Shaker et al. 2002).
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3.5 Adjunctive Biofeedback
Most swallow manoeuvres require complex learning or relearning of motor patterns by patients. The application of biofeedback as an adjunct to swal­lowing therapy may facilitate the learning processes and be valuable in enhancing the rate of motor learning. Several techniques can be used to reveal some of the internal physiological events, normal and abnormal, using visual or auditory signals. Patients will be able to manipulate these otherwise involuntary or unfelt events (Basmajian and Deluca 1985).
The literature describes positive effects of surface electromyographic feedback in dysphagia treatment (Bogaardt et al. 2009; Crary et al. 2004). For example, when surface electrodes are placed under the chin, between the front of the mandible and the hyoid, muscle activity in the submental muscles can be recorded. During therapeutic sessions, patients are asked to perform repeatedly the Mendelsohn manoeuvre while being provided with visual feedback of the electromyographic recordings that present muscle activity as a function of a time frame. Patients are able to judge for themselves the amount of success in prolonging the laryngeal excursion as they watch the surface electromyographic signal on a computer monitor, thus receiving immediate feedback on their swallowing performance (Bogaardt et al.
2009). Surface electromyographic feedback may help
teach the patient muscle relaxation, straining, and strengthening, and the feedback may stimulate muscle coordination.
Other biofeedback techniques may be helpful in functional rehabilitation as well. The use of flexible videoendoscopic biofeedback in swallowing therapy, serving as pharyngeal image biofeedback, has been studied. It shorted the period of functional rehabili­tation (Denk and Kaider 1997). Endoscopic feedback may be helpful to teach patients breath-hold manoeuvres such as the super supraglottic swallow or the supraglottic swallow. It can help by visualizing the degree of vocal fold closure or residue at the laryngeal vestibule. Instead of endoscopic recordings, videoradiographic recordings of swallowing may be used. Another technique, cervical auscultation, might be used to listen to swallow sounds as an adjunct to clinical swallowing assessment (Leslie et al. 2004). It has been speculated that swallow sounds provide audible cues that permit a reliable
dichotomized classification of normal swallowing versus dysphagic swallowing with signs of penetra­tion and/or aspiration.
4 Effects of Behavioural Treatment
It is not only treatments by physicians that have to be evaluated according to current standards of evidence-based medicine; so do interventions by allied health professionals. By extension, the therapy outcome of behavioural treatment of oropharyngeal dysphagia needs objective evaluation as well (Speyer et al. 2010). According to Logemann (1999), therapy procedures should not be imple­mented until data on their efficacy and positive outcomes have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Indeed, clinicians must be acquainted with the relevant literature in order to justify their choice of therapy strategies during the clinical decision­making process. Therapists are responsible for collecting clinicalefficacy andoutcome data on each of their patients. Only then can they objectify whether the goals set at the start of therapy have been adequately met at the end. Evidence-based practice is thereby the result of combining current research, the clinician’s expertise, and the patient’s values and preferences (Wheeler-Hegland et al. 2009).
Several reviews have been published summarizing the literature on the behavioural treatment of oro­pharyngeal dysphagia. Some narrative reviews pro­vide extensive information about treatment possibilities (Logemann 2006). Other studies describe the effects of swallowing therapy in general as applied by speech and language therapists. The latter reviews are based on a systematic literature search using diverse electronic databases (Speyer et al. 2010). Furthermore, a few systematic reviews have restricted the literature search to certain types of therapy. Some are focused on neuromuscular electrical stimulation (Carnaby-Mann and Crary 2007; Clark et al. 2009). Others are confined to well-defined patient popula­tions: for example, patients suffering from neurolog­ical disorders (Ashford et al. 2009) or oncological problems in the head and neck area (McCabe et al.
2009).
Therapists can thus turn to the existing literature for short, systematic overviews that will help them select therapeutic interventions when treating patients
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with oropharyngeal dysphagia. However, as many questions remain unsolved, clinicians will have to rely on their professional and clinical insights as well. For example, the success of therapy in a given patient population cannot necessarily be generalized to another population. Furthermore, behavioural dys­phagia treatment may combine many different inter­ventions for the same patient. The question is then, will the final outcome of therapy be equal to the sum of each component? Or will redundancy or antago­nistic factors complicate the task of determining the actual efficacy of an individual patient’s treatment? The literature thus has its shortcomings. But it still provides grounds for discerning trends in therapy success, even though methodological issues in out­come studies on oropharyngeal dysphagia remain to be addressed.
4.1 Trends in Treatment Effects
An overview of the literature on the behavioural treatment of oropharyngeal dysphagia shows statisti­cally significant positive effects of therapy (Speyer et al. 2010). However, considering the major impact of dysphagia on a patient’s quality of life (McHorney et al. 2003), the number of evidence-based studies is rather small. Only effect studies that meet certain quality criteria—notably concerning study design, patient attrition, randomization plus allocation of subjects to intervention groups, and blinding of out­come assessors—may provide information that is sufficiently reliable for the study outcome to be translated into clinical practice (Frymark et al. 2009; Speyer et al. 2010). Besides these methodological issues, it should be noted that the behavioural treat­ment of dysphagia frequently combines different interventions (Speyer et al. 2010). Thus, even though a combination of techniques has proven to be effec­tive in eliminating or diminishing the symptoms, it may be hazardous to make any firm statements about the effectiveness of each of the separate elements. Still, a number of well-designed effect studies have demonstrated a positive therapy outcome of behav­ioural approaches in swallowing therapy. Therefore, some general conclusions may be drawn and certain trends may be distinguished.
One very common therapy intervention is bolus
modification. In a study of two groups of dysphagic
patients who had experienced aspiration pneumonia prior to therapy, Groher (1987) demonstrated that viscosity modulation (soft mechanical diet with thickened liquids versus pureed diet with thin liquids) could reduce the number of episodes of aspiration pneumonia. In a later study by Groher and McKaig (1995), the changes in dietary level in a group of persons in residential care were described after a sin­gle evaluation by a speech and language pathologist. On the basis of their findings, the authors concluded that many nursing home residents may be inappro­priately assigned or maintained on mechanically altered diets. Regular reevaluation of the residents’ dietary level was strongly advised. Several other studies have demonstrated the positive effects of increasing bolus viscosity in dysphagic patients. Clavé et al. (2006) found that changing the viscosity from that of liquid to that of nectar and pudding signifi­cantly improved the efficacy and safety of swallowing by reducing aspiration and penetration in patients with dysphagia. However, the timing of the swallow response and bolus kinetic energy were not affected, whereas increasing the bolus volume significantly impaired the efficacy and safety of swallowing. Sim­ilar effects were found in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis with aspiration and/or penetration (Bhattacharyya et al. 2003). In particular, paste bolus consistencies were found to be safer than thin liquids, as the paste led to much less penetration or aspiration despite a higher prevalence of pharyngeal residue. Increasing the bolus volume and viscosity in acute stroke patients (Bisch et al. 1994) led to decreased pharyngeal delay times. However, the patients exhib­ited very few significant effects of temperature on swallowing disorders or swallow measures. Hamdy et al. (2003) concluded that combined thermal (cold) and chemical (citrus) modification of water consis­tently altered swallowing behaviour after cerebral injury, resulting in slowed swallowing and reduced swallow capacity. On the other hand, Logemann et al. (1995) found an improved onset of the oral swallow in response to sour boluses compared with nonsour boluses in neurological patients. Increasing the bolus volume increased the amount of oral residue and the number of swallows but decreased the swallow times (oral transit time, pharyngeal delay time, and pha­ryngeal transit time). In conclusion, although bolus modification seems effective in therapy, further research will be needed.
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Rehabilitation of the swallowing process may include an exercise programme consisting of diverse oral motor exercises. Even though the rationale seems obvious, a few studies have objectified the effects of intensive oral motor training. For instance, by means of an isometric lingual exercise programme, Robbins et al. (2007) demonstrated that lingual exercises enable acute and chronic dysphagic stroke patients to increase lingual strength, with associated improve­ments in swallowing pressure, airway protection, and lingual volume. Oral motor exercises such as tongue pull-back, yawn, and gargle tasks have also been found helpful to improve the maximum range of posterior movement of the tongue base (Veis et al.
2000). In a study by Nagaya et al. (2000), the initia-
tion time of the swallowing reflex in dysphagic patients with Parkinson’s disease was reduced significantly after a single session of swallowing training. That training consisted of tongue motion and resistance exercises, exercises to increase the adduc­tion of the vocal folds, the Mendelsohn manoeuvre, and motion exercises for the neck, shoulders, and trunk. The orofacial regulation therapy of Castillo Morales, combining motor and sensory stimulation, indicated long-lasting improvement in oropharyngeal dysphagia in stroke patients, as measured by quality­of-life questionnaires, videofluoroscopy, and clinical evaluation (Hägg and Larsson 2004). In fact, many effect studies use oral motor exercises in combination with a variety of other intervention techniques, such as bolus modification, postural adjustments, and swallow manoeuvres (Denk et al. 1997; Elmståhl et al. 1990; Huckabee and Cannito 1999; Kiger et al.
2006; Martens et al. 1990; Masiero et al. 2007;
Neumann 1993). Overall, the effects of therapy are positive. But because techniques are used in combi­nation, the outcome of swallowing therapy cannot be attributed to any single oral motor training (Speyer et al. 2010).
A heightened sensory input may be achieved in several ways: by changing the volume, taste, or temperature of the bolus; by applying pressure; or with neuromuscular electrical stimulation. Bolus modification and management have already been discussed. Although no effect studies have been conducted on pressure application, considerable attention has been given to thermal application at the anterior faucial pillars, as studied by Rosenbek et al. (1991, 1996, 1998) in stroke patients. They were
given intensive daily training using a chilled laryngeal mirror for repeated strokes on the pillars. Nonethe­less, after 2 weeks of thermal application alternating with 2 weeks without it, there was no strong evidence that their dysphagia had improved (Rosenbek et al.
1991). A later study by Rosenbek et al. (1996) used a
cross-over design to study the short-term effects of thermal application, comparing stroke patients’ swallowing during 10 min in a treated and untreated condition. Swallowing durations were highly variable within an individual and across the patient group. Still, compared with no treatment, thermal stimulation reduced the duration of staged transition and total swallow duration. A third study (Rosenbek et al.
1998) investigated the effects of four intensities of
tactile–thermal application combined with the effort­ful swallowing manoeuvre in acute stroke patients. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 150, 300, 450, or 600 trials of tactile–thermal application per week over a period of 2 weeks. No single treatment intensity emerged as superior. Overall, positive changes on an aspiration-penetration scale and decreased duration of stage transition did not reach clinical or statistical significance. Possibly, the observed changes might have been due to physio­logical recovery.
The effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on swallowing has been summarized in two recent systematic reviews (Carnaby-Mann and Crary 2007; Clark et al. 2009). Both indicate some small but significantly positive treatment effects. At the same time, they point out the need for additional research in this area. A few publications on neuromuscular elec­trical stimulation have appeared since the cut-off point for those two reviews. Some of these new studies pro­vide cumulative evidence of the effectiveness of this therapeutic intervention as an adjunctive modality for treatment of swallowing disorders (Carnaby-Mann and Crary 2008), whereas others remain conservative in their conclusions. Ludlow et al. (2007) suggested that low levels of sensorystimulation might be anadditional tool for dysphagia therapy, although emphasizing the need for further systematic studies. Others found no significant differences between neuromuscular elec­trical stimulation and traditional swallowing therapy in a group of stroke patients (Bülow et al. 2008). Future research will provide more evidence on whether or not neuromuscular electrical stimulation would be useful for patients with swallowing problems.
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Various outcome studies have described the effects of postural changes, mainly head postural adjust­ments, which may affect the direction and speed of the bolus transport through the oropharynx. Overall, evaluations of therapy outcome, mainly in single­session study designs, have noted significant improvement from postural changes. For example, the use of head flexion or chin tuck in a group of aspi­rating patients with oesophagectomy (Lewin et al.
2001) and in a patient population with diverse neu-
rological diseases (Shanahan et al. 1993) significantly reduced the number of patients who were aspirating. In a group of patients with unilateral dysphagia, head rotation towards the paretic side increased the fraction of the bolus swallowed and the opening diameter of the upper oesophageal sphincter (Logemann et al.
1989). However, studies on head tilt or general
postural adjustments are rare and may be limited to single-case studies (Drake et al. 1997).
Behavioural swallow therapy may include diverse manoeuvres, such as the supraglottic swallow and the super supraglottic swallow. However, to determine the isolated effect of a single manoeuvre, studies must restrict the intervention protocol to one specific swallow manoeuvre. This would entail providing outcome data before and after this intervention, without introducing other treatment techniques during the same therapy period. In general, the treatment outcomes reported in the literature have been positive.
Logemann et al. (1994b) described an improved oral intake in patients after supraglottic laryngectomy when using the supraglottic swallow. When the super supraglottic swallow was applied in a group of patients with head and neck cancer (Logemann et al.
1997), fewer motility disorders were observed.
Furthermore, the manoeuvre eliminated or reduced aspiration in some of the patients. With use of elec­tromyographic biofeedback (surface electromyogra­phy) during the Mendelsohn manoeuvre in stroke patients and patients with head and neck cancer, the oral intake was improved and reflected a trend towards statistical significance (Crary et al. 2004). Evidence for the benefit of the effortful swallow is limited. For example, in two case studies by Lazarus et al. (2002) describing two patients with dysphagia as a result of oncological problems, using the effortful swallow seemed to help them attain near-normal swallowing pressures and an improved oropharyngeal clearing efficiency. The literature also provides little
evidence for the benefit of the Masako manoeuvre, although the rationale has been well described (Fujiu et al. 1995; Fujiu and Logemann 1996). The Shaker or head-raising exercise was studied in a randomized controlled trial by Shaker et al. (2002) in a group of patients with dysphagia from diverse causes and an abnormal upper oesophageal sphincter opening. After a head-raising exercise programme, significant therapy effects were found. These included an improvement in the anteroposterior diameter of the sphincter opening and the anterior laryngeal excur­sion, a decrease in the amount of postdeglutitive residue, and the resolution of aspiration.
Several studies have been published on adjunctive biofeedback in dysphagia treatment with promising results. Denk and Kaider (1997) studied the use of videoendoscopic biofeedback in conventional therapy for patients with dysphagia associated with oncolog­ical disorders. Their main conclusion was that the functional rehabilitation period was shorter than in conventional therapy without adjunct biofeedback. In a study of tube-dependent stroke patients who had previously been treated by speech therapists without success, Bogaardt et al. (2009) demonstrated that using surface electromyography as biofeedback to standard exercises could result in a significantly positive change in oral intake. Some of these patients could have the percutaneous enteral gastrostomy tubes removed after therapy. In a study by Crary et al. (2004), the positive effects of electromyographic biofeedback on the functional oral intake in stroke patients and patients following treatment for head and neck cancer also showed a trend towards statistical significance. The findings of both studies are in line with the study outcome reported by Huckabee and Cannito (1999). In a population of chronic dysphagic patients with brainstem injury, they studied the effects of electromyographic biofeedback and cervi­cal auscultation biofeedback in combination with traditional swallowing therapy, including swallow manoeuvres, oral motor exercises, and compensatory mechanisms. After therapy, significant improvements were observed in swallowing function as measured by severity ratings of videofluoroscopic swallowing studies, diet level, and pulmonary status.
Many more evidence-based studies have been published on issues related to outcomes in swallowing therapy using a combination of diverse intervention techniques (see the review by Speyer et al. 2010).