Flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy used to assess swallowing function

Flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy can be used to evaluate swallowing dysfunction by observing the patient's pharynx with a fiberoptic laryngoscope while the patient's swallowing function is challenged with various food materials. This technique provides much of the same information obtained from the formal videofluoroscopic swallowing examination and has the advantages of being a bedside technique requiring only a fiberoptic laryngoscope that can be performed in 15 minutes by a single otolaryngologist.