Intensive Dysphagia Rehabilitation Program Post Covid-19: Case Series Report

Author Info

Fernanda Tormen Korspalski Fabrício Edler Macagnan Émille Dalbem Paim Vera Beatris Martins Monalise Costa Batista Berbert

Corresponding Author

Fernanda Tormen Korspalski
Graduate Student of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

A B S T R A C T

Dysphagia often occurs in the most severe cases of Covid-19 infection and has an impact on clinical outcomes and patients’ quality of life. Objective: This study aimed to describe the effects of intensive speech rehabilitation in cases of post-Covid-19 dysphagia in a hospital environment. Methods: This is a series of five patients admitted to a medical ward between May and August 2021. They were dysphagic, underwent orotracheal intubation and were submitted to evaluation and intensive speech therapy for five consecutive days. The intervention involved myofunctional exercises and in three cases electrical stimulation were also associated. The outcomes were: evolution of the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) and Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) - according to videofluoroscopy - degree of dysphagia according to the Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale (DOSS) and improvement in quality of life (SWAL-QOL). Results: After therapy, one patient remained with severe dysphagia, two evolved to mild dysphagia, and two to functional deglutition. In four cases, there was an evolution of the PAS to level 1, showing reduction of aspiration episodes and laryngotracheal penetration, FOIS level 6 and improvement in the quality-of-life questionnaire scores. Conclusion: The therapy promoted an increase in the levels of oral intake, a reduction in the degree of severity of dysphagia and episodes of penetration and laryngotracheal aspiration, in addition to an improvement in the quality of life index in four of the five patients in this series.

Article Info

Article Type

Case Series

Publication history

Received: Thu 23, Feb 2023
Accepted: Sat 04, Mar 2023
Published: Mon 27, Mar 2023

Copyright

© 2023 Fernanda Tormen Korspalski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.IJCST.2023.01.02