Shanghai experts gave precise treatment and the girl recovered after one month. She was unable to eat after encephalitis.
On the first day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, a mother brought her recovered daughter Xiaozhe to the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University and presented a banner to the treatment team of the Rehabilitation Department, thanking them for using their superb medical skills to preserve her daughter's health. In just one month, her daughter, who was unable to eat, was finally able to recover and enjoy food normally.
Eight-year-old Xiaozhe went to the hospital for fever, drooling, aphasia and other symptoms and was diagnosed with severe encephalitis and brainstem encephalitis. After emergency treatment in the Fudan Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Xiaozhe's condition stabilized. However, Xiaozhe was left with swallowing difficulties after severe encephalitis and could only rely on nasogastric feeding to obtain nutrition. Xiaozhe was unable to eat normally and was therefore depressed all day.
Facing Xiaozhe's dysphagia, the Pediatric Rehabilitation Department of Fudan University, together with the Intensive Care Unit, Department of Gastroenterology, Department of Radiology, and Department of Nutrition, formed a multidisciplinary team to solve the problem. Under X-ray fluoroscopy, the experts let Xiaozhe take X-rays while eating, and performed special angiography on the oral cavity, throat, esophagus and other areas to observe the abnormal conditions of these areas during eating. With the help of swallowing angiography, the treatment team deeply analyzed the main causes and specific symptoms of swallowing disorders, providing strong guidance for subsequent treatment.
Wang Yanna, the leader of the swallowing therapy team of the rehabilitation department, conducted a comprehensive clinical assessment and swallowing radiography assessment on the child. The results showed that the child had severe swallowing disorders and aspiration, and swallowing function training was required immediately. The team developed a precise rehabilitation plan. After a month of rehabilitation treatment, Xiaozhe's swallowing function was fully restored, and he finally got to eat the long-lost food as he wished.
Expert introduction: Swallowing disorders in children refer to a clinical manifestation in which children are unable to safely and effectively transport food from the mouth to the stomach due to damage to the structure and/or function of organs such as the mandible, lips, tongue, soft palate, throat, esophagus, etc. It is not only common in children with a history of premature birth, neuromuscular diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, upper respiratory tract anatomical abnormalities, and cardiopulmonary diseases, but may also occur in children who should be healthy.
Swallowing is an extremely complex process, and its smooth progress requires complex and delicate coordination of the nervous and muscular systems. Only through gold standard examinations and professional treatment can children achieve effective and accurate swallowing rehabilitation. Zhou Hao, director of the rehabilitation department, said that swallowing angiography is the gold standard for evaluating swallowing disorders. The hospital has carried out swallowing assessment, angiography and rehabilitation intervention for children. It is currently the first children's specialty hospital in Shanghai with swallowing angiography examinations and systematic swallowing rehabilitation.
It is reported that Fudan Pediatric Swallowing Therapy Team consists of 2 doctors and 4 swallowing therapists. They mainly evaluate, guide and treat children with feeding and swallowing disorders as the main complaint or symptoms in outpatient clinics and wards. They can carry out swallowing and feeding difficulties caused by various reasons, such as gastroesophageal reflux, choking when drinking milk, long feeding time, lack of interest in food or even refusal to eat, nasal reflux, etc.
