Although the term “dysphagia” is often regarded as a symptom or sign‚ it can be used to describe a medical condition in its own right. Many people that suffer from dysphagia are unaware of it – in such cases‚ it may go undiagnosed and untreated. This raises the risk of aspiration pneumonia‚ a serious lung infection that can develop after the accidental inhalation of saliva or food particles. Undiagnosed dysphagia may also lead to dehydration and malnutrition. A physical examination and a variety
Premium
x-ray‚ sputum culture‚ complete blood count‚ arterial blood gases‚ bronchoscopy‚ CT scan‚ and blood cultures. Another test that can be performed to determine if aspiration is a factor would be the swallow test. In this test‚ a doctor gives you barium to ingest while a chest x-ray is performed. The barium swallow test can highlight abnormalities in the upper gastrointestinal tract‚ pharynx‚ esophagus‚ and stomach. It is usually read by a licensed speech pathologist. The chest x-ray would usually reveal
Premium Immune system Bacteria Infection
type of treatment needed. My patient was also diagnosed with spondylosis. Spondylosis is a condition where your spine is causing pain and also deteriorating. My patient is having trouble getting food to move from the top of his esophagus. When he swallows his food‚ it is getting stuck in his epiglottis area. Almost
Premium Nutrition Obesity Eating disorders
The Barium Swallow test where a patient swallows a liquid mixture while at an x-ray machine. The barium is opaque to the x-ray therefore allowing narrowing in the esophagus to be shown in pictures. The Endoscopy is a medical instrument that consists of a narrow flexible tube with a light and camera at the
Premium Cancer Gastroesophageal reflux disease Obesity
How peptic ulcers develop Peptic ulcers develop when the protective layer of the stomach or the lining of the intestine is broken down. When this occurs‚ the stomach’s digestive fluids‚ which contain hydrochloric acid and an enzyme called pepsin‚ can damage the intestine as well as the stomach (webmd). Ulcers tend to occur in all age ranges‚ but specifically in males in their early to late sixties. Inflammatory drugs may contribute to the cause of developing a peptic ulcer‚ these drugs block
Premium Stomach Peptic ulcer Helicobacter pylori
diarrhea‚ abdominal pain‚ bleeding‚ appetite and weight loss‚ fever • Location: Any portion of GI tract from Mouth to Anus‚ involving the terminal ileum with skip lesions through out. • Morphology: Transmural lesions with cobble stone mucosa on barium swallow • Extra intestinal manifestations: o Joint pain: Arthritis‚ Ankaylosing Spondylitis (CD>UC) o Fatty liver: Primary Sclerosing Chlongitis (UC>CD) o Uveitis: Blurred Vision and Photophobia o Skin: Erythema nodosum‚ pyoderma gangrenous •
Premium Crohn's disease Ulcerative colitis
observe a young woman receiving a barium enema. The level of comfort was somewhat questionable‚ but it turned out that I had no problem dealing with this situation. I was interested in the fact that when a barium dye was added to the fluid of her enema‚ the insides of her intestines could be viewed to search for blocks or other problems. The next two patients observed were also receiving barium treatments. In one room I observed an elderly lady receiving a barium swallow exam in which she attempted swallowing
Premium X-ray Radiology Radiography
GI Terminologies Visceral pain; dull poorly localized pain Somatic pain; sharp pain‚ well localized Referred pain; pain experience at a distance from disease process Fetor hepaticus; sweet fecal odor caused by hepatic failure Feculent breath; foul fecal odor caused by severe bowel obstruction Severe halitosis; foul breath odor can be caused by poor dental hygience or neoplasms or esophagus and stomach Jaundice; yellowish discoloration of skin caused by high bilirubin level associated with
Premium Small intestine Stomach Abdomen
voice change after swallow‚ and cough after swallow. They then designed their study in an attempt to link the six signs of aspiration to the diagnosis and severity of dysphagia. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the six risk factors approximated the VSS in identification of dysphagia severity (Daniels et al.‚ 1997). It was hypothesized that the presence of any one factor could predict at least mild dysphagia or normal swallowing on a video fluoroscopic swallow study (VSS) and that
Premium Pneumonia Speech and language pathology Stroke
exams—why they were doing that certain exam and what they were looking for. I saw many exams in my time of job shadowing‚ but here are a few that really stuck in my head. One of the first exams that I saw was a Barium Swallow. This is where the technologist gives the patient drinks liquid Barium while a Radiologist watches the image produced by the fluoroscope on the screen to check for any dilations or blockages. Another exam I watched was a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube Check. In this exam
Premium Physician Patient Medicine