[Dysphagia] Clear fluids

[m.sanscartier at videotron.ca (Michel Sanscartier)]

"I just had a discussion with one of the dietitians that I work with. She
asked why we order clear fluids for a patient. In our facility, there is the
surgical 'clear fluids' which includes Ensure (apparently it doesn't have
lactose, so it's 'clear')" ???



 Since when lactose is changing any liquid's consistency?

Is that exactly what the RD you work with told you?

If it is, unfortunately, she didn't express herself correctly. She meant 
that after some surgery, the GI tract is very sensitive and the secretion of 
lactase can lower and we often see lactose intolerance for some days. A 
"Clear" diet, chemically speaking is without any substance that could cause 
irritation of the GI tract. There's absolutly no link with dysphagia. 
Rheologicaly speaking, clear liquid has another definition. If we speak 
about consistency, the consistometer is the tool to determine if a liquid is 
clear or not (? 24 cm). If we speak about the viscosity, some authors has 
defined clear if ? 50 cP (witch don't make any sense to me). There's a lot 
of work to do in research to establish the link between rheology and 
dysphagia. In the mean time, I would suggest that the nutritional and 
medical status is discuss with the RD before you give any suggestion for the 
diet.



Michel Sanscartier RD, MS