Specialty Hospital of Washington-Hadley Initiates Advanced Care Programs for Swallowing Disorders

VERO BEACH, FL, August 31, 2012 (Press-News.org) Specialty Hospital of Washington's Hadley Campus has begun using FEES (Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing) has part of its rehabilitative services. FEES provides a comprehensive functional evaluation of the pharyngeal stage of swallowing leading to recommendations as to adequacy and appropriate interventions.

A FEES study is designed to evaluate the swallowing mechanism, and is performed by an otolaryngologist in conjunction with a speech language pathologist. The study requires the passage of a flexible Fiberoptic endoscope into the throat in order to visualize the actual swallow in progress. The test allows clinicians to observe:

- if food is going into the airway instead of the stomach, called aspiration
- what parts of the mouth and throat may not be working well
- what kinds of food are safest to swallow
- if certain positions or strategies help the patient to swallow better

Appropriate postural changes and swallowing maneuvers are attempted to detect problems and enable the examiner to make recommendations regarding optimal interventions to improve the safety and efficiency of the swallow, the advisability of oral feeding, and use of appropriate behavioral strategies that facilitate safe and efficient swallowing.

Specialty Hospital of Washington's FEES program is a good example of the hospital's dedication to providing the highest quality of therapy to the patients we serve and at every level of care.

About Specialty Hospital Of Washington
The Specialty Hospital of Washington is the premier long term acute care hospital in the Washington DC area, and offers a preferred, cost effective alternative to long term stays in typical general hospital intensive care units. SHW is a fully accredited and highly rated hospital providing extraordinary care for its patients at both its Capitol Hill and Hadley campuses.