What should I do if I have cerebral infarction and have difficulty swallowing?

Don’t underestimate the symptom of dysphagia, because dysphagia may be a symptom caused by cerebral infarction. What should I do if I have difficulty swallowing due to cerebral infarction? Generally speaking, when treating cerebral infarction, care should also be provided for dysphagia.

Dysphagia after cerebral infarction is not uncommon, most of which is caused by pseudobulbar palsy, which is often caused by multiple cerebral infarctions or multiple cerebral infarctions. The main symptom is choking while eating, with varying degrees of severity, with mild to moderate choking being more common and severe choking being less common. Patients with cerebral infarction should try to eat after their condition stabilizes. They cannot always rely on nasogastric feeding or intravenous nutrition. However, they should pay attention to the following points when eating:

1. Choose the right posture for eating

The eating positions suitable for patients are not all the same and need to be adjusted according to the specific situation. If the patient is still unable to get out of bed, the trunk should be in a supine position with the head flexed forward and the shoulder on the hemiplegic side propped up with a pillow. A family member or nurse should stand on the healthy side of the patient to help eat. This will prevent food from leaking out of the mouth and facilitate the transport of food to the tongue, reducing reflux and accidental swallowing, and avoiding choking. If you are able to get out of bed, sit up straight with your head leaning forward. You can also tilt your body 30 degrees to the healthy side to allow food to enter the esophagus from the healthy side of the pharynx to prevent accidental swallowing and choking.

2. Pay attention to the appropriate form of food

The form of food can be determined according to the patient's food intake and the degree of swallowing difficulties. For patients with poor swallowing ability or accompanied by drowsiness and lethargy, easy-to-swallow liquid food such as fresh milk, vegetables and fruit juice can be given. As the swallowing function improves, it can be changed to semi-liquid food, such as porridge, vegetable puree, batter, etc. The density should be relatively uniform, easy to stick but not easy to fall apart, and easy to eat and digest. When the swallowing function is significantly improved, you can gradually transition to a normal diet, paying attention to making the food look, smell and taste good and increasing your appetite. At this time, you should still avoid hard food.

3. Reasonable distribution of food

The total amount of food should follow the principle of starting with a small amount and gradually increasing, starting with 1/3 to 1/2 of the patient's pre-illness food intake, and gradually increasing the amount of food. The amount of food you take in each time should start from a small amount, i.e. 3-4 ml, and can be increased to 1 tablespoon as appropriate. After each meal, ask the patient to swallow repeatedly several times to prevent food retention and exercise the function of the swallowing muscles. When patients are able to eat three or more meals a day, they can reasonably distribute the amount of food for each meal according to the principle of eating a good breakfast, a full lunch, and a small dinner, so as to eat small meals frequently and with rich nutrition.