Abstrakt

Flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing.

Anatoli Pataridou

Dysphagia, a disorder with multifactorial aetiopathogenic features, presents several problems regarding both the definition of the nature of the condition and the classification of specific deficits in the structures and in the various stages of swallowing. Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is now a first choice method for studying swallowing disorders on account of the various advantages it offers: easy to use, very well tolerated, allows bedside examination and is economic. Nevertheless, this diagnostic procedure is not without risks, the most probable consequences of which include discomfort, gagging and/or vomiting, vasovagal syncope, epistaxis, mucosal perforation, adverse reactions to topical anaesthetics and laryngospasm. The swallow is divided into the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phases