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Updated: Sep 26, 2025

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Published on: March 1, 2015
Implementation of Pediatric Flexible-Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing: A Systematic Review and Recommendations for
Jana Zang1, Saskia Kiehn2, Till Flügel2
1Department of Voice, Speech and Hearing Disorders, Center for Clinical Neurosciences, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. j.zang@uke.de.
Insights
Pediatric flexible-endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) lacks standardized protocols. This review found no high-quality studies, highlighting a need for better pediatric FEES procedures and research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Otolaryngology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Flexible-endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is a standard diagnostic tool for dysphagia.
- However, validated protocols for pediatric FEES are currently lacking.
- This gap hinders consistent application and research in pediatric populations.
Conclusions:
- Existing pediatric FEES protocols lack methodological rigor and uniformity.
- The review provides a basis for developing minimum requirements for pediatric FEES research.
- Standardized protocols are essential to advance pediatric dysphagia diagnostics.
Background:
Although pediatric flexible-endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) has developed into a standard in dysphagia diagnostics, there are no valid protocols and procedures for children available to date.
Objective:
This systematic PROSPERO-registered review aimed to identify implementation protocols for pediatric FEES described in research studies, and to analyze them in detail concerning procedural steps, equipment, and reported outcome.
Methods:
Included were all studies reporting a pediatric FEES protocol for children aged 0-18 years, if they described at least two criteria defined in advance. The databases MEDLINE and CINHAL were searched systematically from January 2000 to February 2021. Risk of bias for included studies was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. A narrative synthesis of the FEES protocols was conducted and the results compared in tabular form.
Results:
In total 22 studies were included, reporting on FEES in 1547 infants, children, and adolescents with a wide range of diagnoses. It was possible to identify protocols related to all age groups in general as well as to particular groups such as breastfed or bottle-fed infants. None of the included studies demonstrated a good methodological quality; all studies had missing data. Uniform implementation for sub-groups could not be determined. The reported outcome of FEES examinations could not be compared.
Discussion:
None of the included studies showed good methodological quality and a significant amount of data were missing; the review still offers a systematic basis for future research to close the serious gap in the area of pediatric FEES. A proposal is made for a minimum requirement for pediatric FEES protocols in scientific studies.
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