Yale Swallow Protocol in Recently Extubated Patients

Dysphagia is prevalent in recently extubated patients with estimates ranging from 29-84% of recently extubated patients having some form of dysphagia with elevated risk for silent aspiration.One challenge providers face when managing post extubation dysphagia (PED) is that there are no best practice guidelines on how to evaluate for PED, specifically how to evaluate for silent aspiration (aspiration without cough response).

One method that has been suggested is the Yale Swallow Protocol (YSP), a pass/fail screen for aspiration consisting of a three ounce water challenge as well as a brief cognitive screen and oral motor exam. The assumption of the YSP is that silent aspiration (aspiration without a cough response) is volume dependent. This is based on a study of over 4000 patients that underwent both a FEES (5mL puree and 5mL liquid boluses) and a 3oz water challenge. Results from previous literature indicated that the 3oz water swallow had a high sensitivity for detecting aspiration (98%). This was again studied with a double blind research design with 25 patients, comparing results of the 3oz water challenge with results of videofluoroscopic swallow study. This showed 100% sensitivity for detecting aspiration, 64% specificity, 78% positive predictive value, and 100% negative predictive value. However, no published study has evaluated the YSP in recently extubated patients and so it is unclear if the high sensitivity and specificity would be retained. Investigators aim to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the Yale Swallow Protocol in identifying aspiration in recently extubated patients.