Pharyngeal residue across the lifespan: a first look at what's normal.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
OBJECTIVES: Without good evidence, post-swallow pharyngeal residue is considered abnormal. Our aim was to document residue from normal food and fluid boluses in young and elderly healthy populations. DESIGN: Prospective, single-blind assessment of residue severity from Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing. SETTING: Tertiary specialist ENT teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-one healthy participants; twenty-one aged <40 and thirty aged 65+. Each swallowed six representative boluses. OUTCOMES: Two teams independently rated pharyngeal residue severity at 11 anatomical sites. RESULTS: The mean residue scores were less than 1 when averaged across all boluses and anatomic sites. Differences due to age were slight. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary data indicate that substantial pharyngeal residue is not common in young or elderly, and probably indicates disordered swallowing.
