Relationship between swallowing disorders and tracheotomized patients: A systematic review

Abstract

The goal of this study is to show a systematic review about the effects that tracheostomies produce in the swallow, as the literature says, by mechanic and physiologic effects. This study has a qualitative focus considering articles published from 2012 in Pubmed, Cochrane and Science Direct databases, with full access in English or Spanish, and at least 5 patients over 18 years old, tracheotomized and with swallowing disorder. Also, there were added articles from the references of the studies acquired in the three databases since 2007. For this reason, there were included 29 articles at total. Most of the studies were classified as cohort, prospective with level of evidence 2B and level of recommendation B, which included multiples pathologies without to describe neither the tracheostomy type nor the brand. The assessments were different and many of them didn’t do treatment. 15 out of 29 studies concluded a relation between dysphagia and tracheostomy. Four of them showed a direct relation between both factors while 11 rejected them. Additionally, three out of 15 articles argue that dysphagia in tracheotomised patients is related to muscular weakness, affirming that there is not a direct relation between swallowing disorders and tracheostomy.