[Dysphagia] A funny thing happened on the way to the esophagus....

[LJBove at aol.com (LJBove@aol.com)]

In a message dated 06-09-14 13:20:35 EDT, TBAGGS@astate.edu writes:

<< Not all SLPs believed that 10 years ago.  There are numerous SLPs who
 were and continue to be "on top of things." >>

In support of Irene, it has been my experience that while there are many us 
who are "on top of things", a great many of us are not. I once had to defend my 
position to my boss that the assessment of esophageal function was necessary 
to the complete evaluation of the swallow and that I intended to continue it's 
inclusion in my evaluations. Many MBS reports that I receive from other 
facilities don't mention esophageal function at all, even in the medical history. I 
have also sent more than one patient to GI for assessment and treatment of 
esophageal dysfunction, resulting in resolution of their dysphagia, after taking 
a careful history and scanning a liquid and a solid bolus through the 
esophagus. Some of these patients had been evaluated previously by other speech 
pathologists who did not consider esophageal function in their original 
assessments. 
Lydia-Jean Bove, MS, CCC-SP