[Dysphagia] Swallowing Eval for Tracheotomy patient

[speechhearing_my at yahoo.com (Speech and Hearing Centres)]

Dear colleagues,
 
   I am interested to know if Vital Stim can be used for adult patients with trachetomy, using a metal  tube or non metal tube. This one patient (45 years old) had undergone craniotomy and cranioplasty as well, after being involved in an MVA 3 months ago. He has been on NG tube feeding since  then, though he only regained consciousness from a coma barely a month ago. He seemed to have limited understanding of verbal instructions and would normally coil himself in a foetal position on bed. He is also not able to sit or stand independently yet. No heart problems were reported and his lungs appeared clear as of yesterday's report.
 
    His physician has requested for a swallowing evaluation and the possibility of him regaining his speech capacity. Here are my queries:
 
1) What should I look out for in this evaluation? 
2) I am interested to try Vital stim with him. He has not received any oral feeds yet.
3) Please advise if I can try oral feeds with him with or without Vital stim.
 
Thank you and wishing everyone a Happy and Joyous New Year,
 
Sincerely,
Linda B.
Speech Language Therapist



		
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