Non-invasive technique for assessment and management planning of oral-pharyngeal dysphagia in children with cerebral palsy

The non-invasive Exeter Dysphagia Assessment Technique (EDAT) was evaluated as a method of assessing the aetiology of dysphagia in children with cereb ral palsy (CP). Data were collected from a group of 20 typically developing children (nine girls, 11 boys; age range 7 to 14 years) for comparison wit h 185 dysphagic children with CP (81 boys, 44 girls; age range 1 to 18 year s). The swallowing mechanism has been separated into physiological phases: anticipatory, delivery, oral transit, and oral-pharyngeal. Normal or abnorm al function in each phase was recorded and the common causes of any impaire d phase were considered, starting with generalized possibilities before foc using on specific parts of swallowing physiology. Data from 125 dysphagic c hildren with GP show marked differences from the data for the typically dev eloping children. Interpreting individual results was valuable in assisting the assessment team to formulate management strategies; two examples are p resented. The technique appears to provide a cost-effective, non-invasive, and valuable clinical tool.