Expert assessment of oropharyngeal dysphagia

The number of patients with chronic dysphagia is increasing as more patients with neurologic diseases and carcinomas of the head and neck can be successfully treated and survive. The expert assessment of a dysphagia should be based not only on anamnestic data, as proposed by the German guidelines “Anhaltspunkte für die ärztliche Gutachtertätigkeit im sozialen Entschädigungsrecht und nach dem Schwerbehindertengesetz,” but also on clinical, endoscopic, and radiologic examinations. Modern procedures of treatment enable us to prevent aspiration or insufficient nutrition; nevertheless, dysphagia causes severe limitations for the patients.