Dysphagia in cerebral palsy

Abstract

Abstract. Feeding problemsare often present in children with neuromotor impairment: dysphagia is usuallyseen in the most severe form of cerebral palsy and it’s defined as thedifficulty with any of the four phases of swallowing. Clinical consequences aremalnutrition and recurrent chest infections that reduce expected duration andquality of life. In order to prevent these consequences it’s important todetect with clinical and instrumental examinations dysphagia symptoms and totreat them. Clinical evaluation focuses mainly on the oral stage of dysphagiai.e. patterns of oral dysfunction but is not able to assess accurately thepharyngeal and esophageal phases that can be studied with instrumental evaluationlike videofluoroscopy. Videofluoroscopy data provide the basis for an objectiveplanning of the treatment only if combined with careful clinical examination.Treatment options include rehabilitative measures such as postural managementand food texture modification and in the most severe cases surgical procedures.Key words: Cerebral palsy, dysphagia