Complications of oropharyngeal dysphagia: Malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia

Abstract

Dysphagia is a symptom that refers to difficulty or discomfort during the progression of the alimentary bolus from the mouth to the stomach (Cook and Kahrilas 1999). From an anatomical standpoint, dysphagia may result from oropharyngeal or esophageal dysfunction and from a pathophysiological standpoint, from structure-related or functional causes. The term comes from the Greek and means difficulty (dys) when swallowing (phagia). It is currently possible to classify oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), with the codes 787.2 (ICD-9) and R13.1 (ICD-10) (WHO n.d.). In the ICD-10 version it is subdivided into R13.11 dysphagia, oral phase; R13.12 dysphagia, oropharyngeal phase; R13.13 dysphagia, pharyngeal phase; R13.14 dysphagia, pharyngoesophageal phase; and R13.19 other dysphagia.