[Dysphagia] FW: Fluoro time and instructions

[tfix1 at cfl.rr.com (Todd R. Fix)]

Sharon,

My radiologists try to limit direct fluoro time to three minutes, however
they will extend it to five minutes when needed.  I, for the life of me,
cannot imagine what would lead to an eleven minute fluoro time exam.  At
best, the VFSS is only predictive in nature.  

I do not instruct patients to orally "hold" a bolus until I step away.  This
can easily lead to aspiration or invasion in those with pharyngeal
incoordination, thereby invalidating the evidence.  I mearly step away as
quickly as possible, or I have the patient self-feed if able.

Regards:

Todd R. Fix MA CCC/SLP
Orlando Regional Medical Center
Orlando, FL


-----Original Message-----
From: dysphagia-bounces at b9.com [mailto:dysphagia-bounces at b9.com] On Behalf
Of Sharon Manders
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:57 PM
To: dysphagia at b9.com
Subject: [Dysphagia] Fluoro time and instructions

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a maximum fluoro time that is acceptable for an
MBS? Our old machine had an alarm that would ring after 5 minutes. One of
our SLPs had a patient last week and the fluoro time was 11 minutes which
the Head Rad said was unacceptable and more than double what she would
consider the maximum. Can anyone point me to anything with a number or a
range?

Also, how many people instruct the patient not to swallow until they (the
SLP) have moved away from the beam (and does it work)?  Obviously not all of
our patients would be able to follow this instruction. I just want an idea
as we are having a lot of problems lately in Diagnostic Imaging. Any
thoughts and ideas are welcome.

Thanks,

Sharon
--
"Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of
time."
- George Carlin
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