This is an automatically translated article.
The article was written by Dr. Le Thu Huong - Rehabilitation Doctor at High-Tech Unit for Autism and Cerebral Palsy - Pediatric Center - Vinmec Times City International Hospital.
Swallowing disorder is a fairly common condition in patients with brain damage. Common diseases are cerebrovascular accident, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, cerebral sequelae due to circulatory arrest, drowning, multiple sclerosis and metabolic disorders...
1. Causes of swallowing disorders in children with cerebral palsy
The cause of swallowing disorders is due to damage to the nervous system affecting the muscle groups of the jaw, face, tongue, mouth, pharynx, and sensory system, cranial nerves.
Besides, brain damage also disturbs cognition and senses, affecting the process of chewing and swallowing. Compared with other groups of diseases, swallowing disorders in children with cerebral palsy bring many difficulties in the whole development of the child.
2. Consequences of swallowing disorder
2.1 Malnutrition
Swallowing disorders are one of the main causes of growth retardation and malnutrition in children with cerebral palsy. Consequences of swallowing disorders make children weak, reduce muscle strength, slow mental development, reduce resistance, easy to get infections and prolong illness, difficult to recover, increase the risk of death death.
Rối loạn nuốt gây suy dinh dưỡng ở trẻ bại não
2.2 Lack of water
In children who choke on liquid, often the child will not receive the necessary amount of fluid for the body, leading to dehydration. If this condition is prolonged and severe, it can lead to a series of problems that seriously affect the child's life, such as: Brain edema, kidney failure, coma...
To limit With these problems, the child may need help with changing positions for feeding, feeding, can use assistive devices such as: bottles, straws with limited volume, empty drinking cups nasogastric tube, or may use a water thickener, or insert a nasogastric tube if necessary.
2.3 Inhalation
Aspiration is a serious consequence of swallowing disorders in children with cerebral palsy, a factor that causes recurrent respiratory infections, especially pneumonia and chronic lung disease, reducing life expectancy and quality of life in children. cerebral palsy patients.
Foreign bodies caused by aspiration can be food, water, saliva and gastric juices due to reflux.
Aspiration before swallowing: due to poor tongue control leading to part of food falling into the airway before being processed, or due to slow swallowing reflex Aspiration during swallowing due to incomplete closure of the larynx Inhalation after eating due to residual food, or due to reflux of gastric juice.
Một hậu quả của rối loạn nuốt là viêm phổi
2.4 Reduced life expectancy, increased risk of death
Life expectancy in patients with cerebral palsy, including mild cases of cerebral palsy, tends to be lower than the average life expectancy of the general population. However, in patients with concomitant swallowing disorders, life expectancy is often very low. The cause of this condition is that in patients with swallowing disorder, malnutrition, dehydration, recurrent pneumonia, reduced resistance all directly affect health and increase the likelihood of death in patients. .
Besides, psychological and social factors also indirectly affect the desire to live in these patients.
2.5 Psychosocial influence
Eating for a child with swallowing disorder faces many difficulties and that has a significant impact on the psyche of the child and caregivers due to the difficulty of eating and feeding, the preparation time. food and prolonged feeding times... This leads to stress for the child and caregiver, which can lead to depression.
Trẻ bại não gặp khó khăn trong việc nuốt có thể bị trầm cảm
2.6 Limiting communication and social integration
This is a common problem in children with cerebral palsy, and it is more difficult in children with cerebral palsy who have swallowing disorders for the following reasons:
Drooling causes body odor Bad breath in people with swallowing disorders due to love stagnation of food in the oral cavity, reflux of food into the nose, pneumonia, gastroesophageal reflux... Decreased independence in community activities Psychological problems, shyness in communication, low self-esteem... Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital has applied stem cell method to successfully treat many cases of cerebral palsy that seemed to have lost all hope. The whole process of stem cell transplantation for cerebral palsy at Vinmec is performed very closely, ensuring safety in accordance with international standards. All surgeries are performed by leading experts and doctors with modern machinery and medical equipment. In addition, Vinmec has also developed a standard transplant procedure so that it can share experiences with colleagues, creating more opportunities for treatment for children with cerebral palsy across the country.
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Stem cell transplant - Opportunities for cerebral palsy patients
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