Dysphagia, Aspiration & Infection – Including does aspiration pneumonia even exist?
- 14/02/2024
Video description
Dysphagia, Aspiration & Infection – Including does aspiration pneumonia even exist?
The View from a Speech and Language Therapist and Physiotherapist
The content of this webinar is brought to you by a speech and language therapist and physiotherapist, who assess and treat patients with dysphagia together as part of a multidisciplinary team.
In this webinar we ask the question if aspiration pneumonia even exists. The answer is not as obvious as you might think based on scientific vs anecdotal evidence. We know that dysphagia can cause aspiration and rightly we have, as allied healthcare professionals then asked, does aspiration cause infection? The evidence remains equivocal.
We review the three pillars’ of pneumonia from aspiration and consider both multifactorial as well as individual factors that could cause AP.
We provide details about the definition and diagnosis of Aspiration Pneumonia (AP), how this definition has evolved over time, how limited x-rays can be, and look at its incidence whilst acknowledging we have limited data. We go into depth about the latest research into the predictors of AP, combined and individual. We then look at dysphagia practice considering what we know about AP and challenge assumptions around our practice, starting with getting the diagnosis right.
It is important to know and understand the difference between aspiration pneumonia and aspiration pneumonitis and their signs and symptoms, as well as speech and language therapists (and others) appreciating the physiotherapy management of aspiration pneumonia.
We take a broader contextual view of differential diagnoses of pulmonary conditions, comparing signs and symptoms, and finish with a summary of what matters to our patients.
Participants
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Sandra Robinson is an independent speech and language therapist, who specialises in dysphagia management, training, supervision, and consultancy.
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Renjith Reghu is a qualified physiotherapist with over 15 years of experience supporting patients with neurological conditions.
