New Service at BCCH Helps Diagnosis Swallowing Problems.
This blog writer just happens to be a 51-year-old man, and as anyone over 50 knows, this is the time in life when some health problems start to show up. Dang! It seems like I was a young man just yesterday.
One health issue that is pretty common in folks my age is the feeling that food is getting stuck in your throat. Did I just “bite off more than I could chew” or is there something else going on?
If this is happening to you on a regular basis, it’s probably a good idea to discuss it with your doctor. Having difficulty in swallowing is usually just a nuisance and can be effectively treated with common sense (slow down, take smaller bites and drink more liquids when eating).
Sometimes, however, this can be a symptom of more serious problems. To find out, your doctor may order a test called an MBS (Modified Barium Swallow Study).
An MBS is a special x-ray that is taken to check swallowing skills conducted by a Radiologist. During the test, your mouth, throat, and esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach) are checked. The test will help your doctor plan what types of foods and liquids are easier for you to swallow, can also help identify positions and ways to help you swallow more easily and safely, and can alert your doctor to more serious conditions if they exist.
Brigham City Community Hospital has purchased new digital video equipment, which will allow us to record, edit and save the digital video with audio synchronization of your test directly into our medical records system.
This gives us the ability to better serve our community by keeping our patients with more complex swallowing disorders in our local hospital instead of transporting them miles to other facilities. This is often crucial for our patients with complex medical histories, as it keeps them from unnecessary transport between hospitals, increasing their risk for further complications. Safe and accurate assessment of a patient’s swallowing after a trauma, surgery or general decline, can significantly reduce a patient’s risk for complications like pneumonia and possible respiratory failure.