Evaluating Swallowing Function in Patients with Critical Illness Polyneuropathy

Critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) occurs often in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). In addition to profound weakness, patients with CIP have respiratory failure and trouble with oral intake. Although dysphagia is a concern in these patients, the prevalence of dysphagia in CIP is unknown, and recovery of normal swallowing function has not been delineated. Investigators in Germany used serial fiberoptic endoscopy to evaluate swallowing function prospectively in 22 patients (mean age, 71) with CIP who were treated in a neurological rehabilitation ICU. All patients had undergone tracheostomy, and 73% were mechanically ventilated initially. Patients received an average of 300 minutes of physical, occupational, and speech and …