Oropharyngeal dysphagia telerehabilitation in the Intensive Care Unit for COVID-19: a case report.
Shigeto Soyama, Tomoo Mano, Akira Kido
PMID 35384989WHAT IT FOUND
A 50-year-old man with severe COVID-19 improved his swallowing frequency from one to three swallows in 30 seconds using telerehabilitation.
The remote assessment matched face-to-face findings, allowing therapy to start while infection risks remained high.
Key findings
01The patient's repetitive saliva swallowing test improved from one swallow in 30 seconds to three swallows in 30 seconds.
02There was no substantial difference between the telerehabilitation and face-to-face findings of the Clinical Swallowing Examination.
03The patient reported high levels of satisfaction with the oropharyngeal dysphagia telerehabilitation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a single case report, so the results cannot be generalized to other patients. The telerehabilitation method was not validated or evidence-based; it was created specifically to meet an urgent need during the pandemic. Silent aspiration or microaspiration may have been missed because the remote assessment could not detect these issues reliably. The authors could not compare the efficacy of telerehabilitation directly against face-to-face therapy, so it is unknown if the remote method caused the improvement or if it would have happened anyway. The patient was alert and able to use a tablet, which limits applicability to patients with altered consciousness or cognitive impairment.
Declared interests
The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee of Nara Medical University. No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest are detailed in the provided text beyond the standard ethical approval statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume telerehabilitation is as effective as face-to-face therapy for swallowing. This case cannot prove efficacy because there was no control group, and the authors explicitly state they could not measure the impact of the remote method on swallowing results compared to standard care.