Aspiration pneumonia after cerebrovascular stroke: a comparison between patients with and without dysphagia

Abstract

Introduction: Pneumonia develops in 11%-21% of patients with a history of acute stroke and weakens their system conditions. The main cause of pneumonia is aspiration, and there is a relationship between dysphagia, which occurs in pathological condi-tions, and disorders of consciousness. This research aims to evaluate and compare the prevalence rate of aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients with and without dysphagia. Methods: We retrospectively identified patients who had experienced a stroke from March 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021 through their documented data. Then, we compared the dysphagia group (patients who developed dysphagia after stroke) with the non -dysphagia group (patients who had never experienced dysphagia). The patients were evaluated regarding the study characteristics and the statistical analysis was done using the SPSS software. Results: A total number of 380 stroke patients including 150 dysphagia and 230 non -dysphagia patients were included in the present study. The prevalence of dysphagia was significantly higher among cerebral hemorrhage patients compared to the ischemic stroke group. Out of 29 patients with hemorrhagic stroke, only 5 did not develop dysphagia, which was significantly different from the corresponding numbers among the ischemic stroke group (225 out of 351 patients). The prevalence of pneumonia was significantly higher among the patients who developed dysphagia (50.6% versus 6.5%). Conclusion: Our study suggests the substantial role of dysphagia in developing aspiration pneumonia. On the other hand, we observed a significantly higher rate of dysphagia among patients with cerebral hemorrhage.