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> I read your message below. What are some things that can be done > "after" aspiration pneumonia and a feeding tube has been put in place in his > stomach. After aspiration pneumonia has occurred, patients are usually given respiratory treatments to help clear their lung fields and antibiotics. Serious aspiration pneumonia requires hospitalization. If a feeding tube has been placed in the stomach the danger of aspiration pneumonia is not necessarily over. If the stomach gets too full, tube feeding can be forced back into the lungs through gastric reflux - which is why nurses are required to check how much stomach contents washes back when the feeding tube is open. If the contents are greater than 100 ccs, the tube feeding is usually discontinued until the stomach empties. > > 1) Should he have another Bariium Swallow Test? If a Barium Swallow test has already been done and it has been determined that the swallowing reflex is severely diminished or absent, then doing another swallowing evaluation will not be of much help. I assume that anyone who has a stomach tube (PEG) has already been assessed for swallowing difficulties. Please correct me if I'm wrong in this case. > 2) Are there exercises he should have daily? The exercises I discussed in my post as over-seen by a speech therapist. > 3) If the Barium Swallow Test comes back negative...meaning he does not get > liquid into his lungs, should the family go very slow in getting him back on > track to eating? If the swallowing evaluation comes back negative, then the patient should not have difficulty eating. If aspiration pneumonia has been diagnosed, then I would wonder if increased neurological deterioration has occurred. I would talk with the neurologist about whether another eval. should be done. > 4) Can he be retrained to eat 3 meals a day? Larry, I'm not sure about what you're asking. If your curious as to whether a person with a severely diminished swallowing reflex can once again eat meals, then from my experience I would have to answer, no. If, however, the swallowing reflex is marginally impaired it is altogether possible that exercises over-seen by a speech therapist might help to re-establish enough swallowing ability so that meal could once again be consumed by mouth. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. ----- God bless Mary Ann ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn