Tuesday 29 August 2017

Best Methods Of Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention

By Karen Roberts


Critically all patients are always at a very high risk of aspirating the oropharyngeal discharges together with regurgitated contents of gastric. For those patients whom are fed by tubes, gastric content aspiration is usually a great concern. It has been viewed that the large volume of aspiration usually happen occasionally although the small volume are viewed as clinically silent and they are more common. There exists some thought strategies which can be used in aspiration pneumonia prevention.

The long term prevention strategies tends to greatly involve a team approach. Nurses, dietitians, physicians, nursing assistants plus rehab professionals all tend to play a great role especially in the plan care but services of special language pathologists are also required as they are the ones who evaluate the swallowing ability of an individual while at the same time determining adequate food and liquids intake.

Sedation is another method which can be used. Sedation is viewed to reduce both the cough and the gag reflexes while at the same time interfering with an individuals ability of handling both the refluxed contents of gastric together with oropharyngeal secretions. Additionally sedation is viewed to effectively slow down the emptying of gastric. So as to effectively minimize the risks associated with aspiration it is necessary to try and use the lowest effective sedation level.

Assessment of the feeding tube placement at regular intervals is another preventative strategy. Panels of experts have recommended that correct placement of feeding tube need to be effectively verified at some regular intervals so as to reduce the risk of contracting this kind of disease. In cases where feeding is administrated at some wrong sites, the risks associated with this particular illness is greatly increased.

Prevention strategies for long term must have a team of experts approach. Dietitians, nurses, rehab experts, physicians without forgetting nursing assistants usually have a great role in the plan care although the special language pathologist services are important since he is a professional who has to evaluate the ability of swallowing of any particular patients. The SLP is also supposed to determine the correct amounts of both food and liquid intake of a patient.

Those who might be viewed to be at risks are supposed to go through a thorough intervention which focuses on immune system support. For instance such an intervention encourages fluid and food intake at meals. It is also important to treat a condition known as GI as it might hinder nutrients absorption.

It is also extremely necessary if bolus tube nourishing can be avoided especially for those patients whom might be at a high risk. A panel of experts suggested that there exists no recommendation which can actually be made with regards to the best formula based on delivery method. It is also important to note that there exists no proper laid down guidelines with regards to bolus feeding.

It has always been viewed that aspiration pneumonia does not actually have a single cause since it is a chain of events starting with some serious medical stress which is then followed by alteration of immune response, oral bacterial growth and then aspiration of oropharyngeal discharges and the events then end up as pneumonia.




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