There may be two main causes of dysphagia, Pakistani experts say

Karachi: There can be two main reasons for difficulty in swallowing or clearing food from the throat, and this is the reason why difficulties in diagnosis and treatment arise. That is why it is so important to know the reason.

These cells were expressed by Pakistani experts, which is also known as dysphagia in medical language. In this, the patient feels difficulty in swallowing food. Dysphagia can have two causes, one being eye, nose and throat (ENT) and the other being gastrointestinal or gastroenteritis.

Because the symptoms of ENT and gastroenteritis are similar, it faces difficulties in diagnosis, which results in suffering for the patient.

The Department of Head and Neck Surgery at Dow University and the National Institute of Gastroenterology Liver Disease (NILGAD) are coordinated for diagnosis, satisfactory treatment of this disease.

These things were said by health experts while expressing their views in an academic session and panel discussion titled Updates on “Dysphagia Management” at Dow International Medical College. Pro-Vice Chancellor Dow University of Health Sciences Prof. Nazli Hussain, Dr. Shadaba Ahmed, a surgeon who came from the UK, described the experiences as the special guest. Apart from them, Dr. Zeba Haque, Dr. Zeba Ahmed, Prof. Shuja Farrukh, Prof. Atif Hafeez Siddiqui, Dr. Zahid Azam, Dr. Hafeezullah Sheikh, and others spoke.

Dr. Shadaba Ahmed said in his lecture that 50 percent of patients who come for medical help with a complaint of difficulty in eating and drinking usually suffer from dysphagia. He said that usually the symptoms of dysphagia are nose, ear and throat diseases, so dysphagia cannot be diagnosed.

It is important for ENT post graduate doctors to take patient history. He said that if the patient has difficulty in chewing and swallowing, it is called “Upper Dysphagia” while discomfort in the esophagus is called “Esophageal Dysphagia”.

He said that globally, four percent of people suffering from various diseases suffer from dysphagia. Dysphagia is an obstruction of the passage from the mouth (oral cavity) to the stomach. Because the symptoms of dysphagia and odynophagia are similar, the diagnosis of dysphagia may be delayed. Odynophagia causes pain and swelling in the throat. He said that transnasal esophageal endoscopy (TNO) is a better method for effective treatment of dysphagia.

He said that the surprising thing is that no standards have been set for the treatment of dysphagia in the United Kingdom, but guidelines have definitely been set.

Doctors treat dysphagia in different ways for their convenience. He said that she treats it by transnasal esophageal endoscopy, i.e. inserting a tube (endoscope) through the nose into the esophagus. He said that the delay in the diagnosis of dysphagia is also due to searching through the Internet because nowadays “Google and Yahoo Doctor” are available to everyone.

Diagnosing dysphagia requires focusing on the history along with the patient’s symptoms. Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nazli Hussain said that the new information provided by Dr. Shadab in the light of his experiences in the UK will be very useful for our post-graduate doctors.

Dr. Zahid Azam said that after the correct diagnosis of dysphagia, before starting the treatment, he must take the advice of ENT. Professor Atif Hafeez Siddiqui said that due to being a multidisciplinary disease, some cases of dysphagia are not correctly diagnosed and The patient becomes incurable due to cancer or any other complication. At the end of the ceremony, Prof. Nazli Hussain gave a commemorative shield to Dr. Shadaba Ahmed, IENT consultant from UK, while in the panel discussion, postgraduate students also presented cases of dysphagia and the panel desk also gave expert advice in this regard. Later, certificates were also given to the students who presented the cases.