Complications during Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) in 5680 examinations

Conclusions: FEES proved to be easy to perform, well tolerated by the patients and cost-effective. It can be performed at the patient ’s bedside and it is characterized by low rate of complications. As a matter of fact, normally only discomfort, gagging and/or vomit are reported. Only rarely complications occur, such as anterior or posterior epistaxis episodes or vasovagal crises, but these are still easily managed. Exceptionall y, more severe complications are reported: adverse drug reactions to substances such as blue dye (methylene blue) and local anesthetics (not used in our protocol), and laryngospasm.
Source: Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research