Objective: To describe the characteristics of specific swallowing abnormalities in children with cerebral palsy and identify the risk factors related to aspiration via videofluoroscopy.
Method: Thirty-one children with cerebral palsy, aged from 1.3 years to 15.5 years, were investigated. After taking feeding history and physical examination, videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSS) were performed according to the modified Logemann's protocol with liquid and puree mixed with barium. The swallowing patterns of oral and pharyngeal phase and presence or absence of aspiration were observed.
Results: In VFSS, children with cerebral palsy showed oral phase abnormalities in 87.1% (27/31) including impairment of bolus formation, food pocketing and pharyngeal phase abnormalities in 83.9% (26/31) including pooling in valleculae, weak pharyngeal peristalsis.
Conclusion: The majority of children with cerebral palsy evaluated in this study had swallowing abnormalities. The main swallowing impairments were tongue movement in oral phase and pharyngeal peristalsis in pharyngeal phase.
