Reliability, validity and clinical application of temporal and amplitude analyses using pharyngeal highresolution manometry

Status: Complete
Year: 2016
Funded: $100,000
Grant Type: Major Project Grant
Tags:
Heart
Research

After stroke, the majority of patients will experience difficulties swallowing, termed dysphagia. This is a critical impairment as it can place patients at increased risk of developing chest infections or even facing an increased risk of death.

Thus, the proposed research programme will provide directives for refining the use of evaluation tools in the clinical assessment of swallowing problems. This is will be done by investigating a technique termed manometry, which measures throat pressure when swallowing. Manometry is important because it is one of the only ways to measure swallowing objectively, however, there is disagreement on the most valid and realiable way to analyse manometric data.

The results from this study will have great importance both locally and globally. In Christchurch alone, there are two manometry systems used in clinical practice, one of which operates in the busy Christchurch Hospital. Thus, the results of this project will lead to an immediate improvement in patient care, helping to keep patients safe and swallowing effectively.

Researcher // Dr Kristin Gozdzikowska – UC Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research

After completing her PhD, Dr Gozdzikowska completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the UC Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research. Additionally, she has worked as a lecturer at the University of Canterbury in the Department of Communication Disorders. Now, she is a Research Fellow at the Laura Fergusson Trust, providing evidenced-based, intensive rehabilitation to individuals following Traumatic Brain Injury.

More About Dr Kristin Gozdzikowska
Stroke

What is Dysphagia?

Dysphagia is difficulty in swallowing. Although classified under “symptoms and signs” in ICD-10, in some contexts it is classified as a condition in its own right. People with dysphagia are sometimes unaware of having it. It may be a sensation that suggests difficulty in the passage of solids or liquids from the mouth to the stomach, a lack of pharyngeal sensation or various other inadequacies of the swallowing mechanism. Dysphagia is distinguished from other symptoms including odynophagia, which is defined as painful swallowing, and globus, which is the sensation of a lump in the throat.

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Estimated number of stroke patients who suffer from dysphagia.
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Number of stroke patients who remain dysphagic after six months.
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Number of stroke patients with prolonged dysphagia who require alternative means of enteral feeding.
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Mortality rate of stroke survivors with dysphagia.

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