What is it about?
The aim of this study was to assess the effects of barium, blue dye, and green dye on the frequency and reliability of detecting airway invasion (penetration and aspiration) seen during flexible endoscopic evaluations of swallowing (FEES). Results showed that airway invasion was detected significantly more frequently and with greater reliability with barium when compared to blue and green dye.
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Why is it important?
In light of these findings, standardized use of barium is recommended at some point during FEES, especially when attempting to detect subtle signs of airway invasion.
Perspectives
This article goes some way towards answering a common question among speech-language pathologists: "Which color should I use during FEES?". This certainly is not the end of the story, but I hope that, after reading this article, SLPs will consider incorporating barium into the FEES - you may be surprised by what you see (and what might otherwise have been missed).
Dr Sarah E Perry
Columbia University Teachers College
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Detection of Airway Invasion During Flexible Endoscopic Evaluations of Swallowing: Comparing Barium, Blue Dye, and Green Dye, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, May 2019, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2018_ajslp-18-0119.
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