Incidental Laryngeal Findings on Bedside Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing in a Community Hospital Setting

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of laryngeal pathology found during bedside flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) in a community hospital.

A retrospective study among patients who underwent a bedside FEES examination from May 2018 to May 2019. Criteria to perform a bedside FEES exam were patients who were identified through nursing screening swallowing evaluation and failed a bedside clinical evaluation of swallowing by a speech language pathologist. Patient demographics, recent intubation, duration of intubation, dysphonia complaints, laryngeal exam findings, consultation to otolaryngology and intervention were reviewed.

Seventy-five patients had an inpatient bedside FEES. All (100%) had subjective complaints of swallowing. 29 (38.66%) had laryngeal pathology identified on FEES examination including unilateral vocal fold immobility (9), fungal infections (6), vocal fold lesion (3), edema (3), erythema (3), vocal process granuloma (2), unilateral TVF Hemorrhage (1), unilateral TVF paresis (1), suspected superior laryngeal nerve palsy (1). Seventeen of the twenty-nine (58.6%) examinations with incidental laryngeal finding received an otolaryngology referral. Twenty-three of the twenty-nine patients with laryngeal findings (79.3%) were intubated during the hospitalization.

Bedside FEES is a well-established method to evaluate swallowing function in an inpatient population. Even in a community hospital, routine FEES examinations led to a high rate of detection of clinically significant laryngeal pathology.