Management of oropharyngeal dysphagia focusses on either the rehabilitation of swallowing capacity in patients who are expected to recover from their disease, like patients with stroke, on intensive care units, after treatment for head & neck cancer etc. The other approach is to compensate for the swallowing disorders by compensation strategies, e.g. in patients with neurodegenerative or neuromuscular diseases.

In all cases management of dysphagia has three main goals:
1. Sufficient nutritional intake of food and liquid
2. Safe intake of food and liquid
3. Intake of food and liquid as normal as possible according to the need of the patient.

Compensation techniques are designed to adapt to a specific swallowing disorder, e.g.:
- chin tuck, to compensate for aspiration of liquids;
- effortful swallow to compensate for pharyngeal residu;
- supraglottic swallow to compensate for inadequate airway closure..

But also adapting food consistencies is a direct compensation technique, e.g. avoiding dry food, using softer or thick liquid food instead of solid food etc. 

The goal of rehabilitation techniques is to improve swallowing function by excercise, with or without supprt of biofeedback or electrical stimulation.

 

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