Some Vital Tips To Note Concerning Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention

By Jose Nelson


Aspiration pneumonia is simply a disease which is as a result of inhaling oropharyngeal or even some kind of gastric content into the lower respiration tract. Those patients in long term care are always at a higher risk of getting infected with this type of an infection when compared to those individuals who are living in their societies. There has been a huge emphasis on aspiration pneumonia prevention as it has significantly risen although there is treatment specifically for those adults who have infections in their lower respiration tracts.

The main reason as to why individual in LTC have a higher risk of getting infected is simply because of the greater frequency of some kind of risky factors which are associated with this kind of a disease like poor hygiene especially the oral hygiene, using some form of medication without forgetting dysphagia.

This is mostly attributed to the higher frequency of some major risk elements for this type of disease with regards to this population such as low oral hygiene, use of some kind of medication as well as dysphagia. Most consequent syndromes can actually happen following aspiration which includes abscess, pneumonia and pneumonitis. There usually exist some common factors which are typically associated with this type of disease which include low oral hygiene, using some kind of medication without forgetting dysphagia.

Patients need to be re-positioned and turned in regular basis so as to effectively maximize the oropharyngeal secretion drainage. It is necessary to make sure that the head of the bed which the patient has been placed on is positioned at an angle of around thirty to forty five degrees. In times of oral intake the head of the bed is required to be elevated at about ninety degrees with both the hips together with the knees being at similar direction to the mid-line of chest is perfect.

Dysphagia typically denotes a kind of subjective sensation of difficulty or even abnormality in swallowing. This is viewed as very common problem more specifically to the elderly individuals and it is actually one of the major causes of aspiration. Aging is actually viewed to present a greater risk of having dysphagia to the aged although it has always been viewed that with healthy advancement in years there exists a physical toll on the neck and head anatomy which usually changes the physiologic together with the neural mechanisms which usually aids the swallowing.

Dysphagia can be managed successfully by interdisciplinary approach which mostly involves the nursing assistants together with the staff, dieticians, speech language pathologists without forgetting those physicians who might be working in the tandem. The main aim of this kind of intervention is to basically maximize the safety with regards to oral feeding especially in times when it has been comprised.

There have been several interventions which have been successfully used in managing dysphagia which typically involves dietary modification, swallowing therapy and tube feeding. Poor oral hygiene is another area of concern which demands to be keenly addressed as one strategy of managing aspiration. Generally poor oral hygiene has significant impact on the general health of an individual without forgetting the risk of pneumonia and aspiration as well.

There are several barriers which blocks proper administration of oral care to those vulnerable individual which includes resistant behaviors from patients, inadequate education for the staff and limited accountability of those practitioners administering oral care. In order to successfully overcome these kind of obstructions a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates dentists, hygienists and certified nursing subordinates is necessary.




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