The use of an emergency department dysphagia screen is associated with decreased pneumonia in acute strokes

Dysphagia is a common problem for patients after an acute stroke which can lead to hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) increasing morbidity and mortality. The Joint Commission has directed that stroke certified hospitals perform a dysphagia screen at the time of initial presentation. We sought to evaluate if our ED dysphagia screen was correlated with lower rates of pneumonia in acute stroke patients.
Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research