Relationship between the Type of Laryngeal Penetration and Severity of Tracheal Aspiration in the Brain Injured

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence of tracheal aspiration in the brain injury patients with laryngeal penetration, and to investigate the relationship between the type of laryngeal penetration and the severity of tracheal aspiration. METHOD: One hundred videofluoroscopic swallowing tests in brain injury patients who showed laryngeal penetration were analyzed retrospectively. Laryngeal penetrations were classified into three groups anterior, posterior and both. The incidence of the tracheal aspiration among the laryngeal penetration was evaluated. The severity of the tracheal aspiration was analyzed into the three groups mild, moderate and severe. Each type of the laryngeal penetration were compared with the severity of the tracheal aspiration. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients showed the tracheal aspiration among the 100 patients with laryngeal penetration. The incidence of tracheal aspiration according to the type of the laryngeal penetration was 100% in both, 86.8% in posterior, and 50.9% in anterior type. The more severe tracheal aspiration was associated with the higher proportion of the posterior and both types. CONCLUSION: The incidence of tracheal aspiration in laryngeal penetration was 71%. More severe tracheal aspiration occurred with both & posterior laryngeal penetration than anterior type.