Post-Extubation Dysphagia

No established prospective, systematic, evidence-based guideline exists for screening aspiration risk in ICU patients after extubation. Prior research found that 82.2% of patients passed swallowing assessment within 2 hours after extubation and 91.6% passed within 24 hours. Swallowing recovery after extubation is dynamic rather than static, which prior cross-sectional research often failed to capture. Impaired swallowing in critically ill patients who required intubation can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration, and pneumonia. Post-extubation swallowing dysfunction can present as coughing, wheezing, or ineffective swallowing when drinking. Many institutions delay swallowing assessment until 24 hours after extubation based on the belief that aspiration risk decreases after that point.