Oral function test for monitoring suction and swallowing in the neurologic patient.

Disturbances in swallowing are common in neurologic disease but difficult to evaluate in the clinical setting. Fundamental variables such as bolus volume, swallow capacity (volume ingested over time), and the relation between ingestion and time for important events in oral and pharyngeal swallowing have not been sufficiently studied. We therefore employed a composite method for monitoring oral and pharyngeal swallowing function: the test of Repetitive Oral Suction Swallow (the ROSS test). The technical details are described as well as preliminary results from a pilot study of 20 healthy subjects and 5 patients with neurologic swallowing impairment. The correlation with respect to time sequences for major events in bolus ingestion and oral processing as monitored by the ROSS test and by videoradiography is explained. With this simple and rapid bedside test, the immediate and long-time result of therapeutic interventions in dysphagic patients may be monitored.