Management of swallowing disorders in ICU

Abstract

Swallowing disorders can lead to serious complications for ICU patients. They should therefore be at the center of caregivers' concerns. However, the lack of knowledge and trained dysphagia staff in the intensive care unit can lead to a management that is not optimal and a loss of opportunity for the patient. Indeed, food recovery is rarely done in the best conditions. Some patients may have swallowing disorders that go unnoticed and therefore eat orally with risk of aspiration pneumonia. Conversely, patients who have gone down the wrong way may be deprived of any oral nutrition, with an increased risk of malnutrition and alteration of swallowing function. Speech-language pathologists therefore have an important role to play in ICU, by preventing complications related to swallowing disorders (pulmonary infections, malnutrition,...) and by empowering patients as much as possible (food recovery, decannulation,...). The purpose of this article is to propose tracks for the evaluation and management of swallowing disorders in intensive care.