Japanese clinical practice guidelines for aspiration and pharyngeal residual assessment during eating and swallowing for nursing care.

AIM: This clinical practice guideline aims to provide and recommend methods of assessing aspiration and pharyngeal residue during eating and swallowing and methods of selecting and implementing nursing care for adults to prevent the development of aspiration pneumonia through early and appropriate management of oropharyngeal dysphagia. METHODS: In April 2018, the Japan Academy of Nursing Science established the Supervisory Committee in Nursing Care Development/Standardization Committee to develop clinical practice guidelines for aspiration and pharyngeal residual assessment during eating and swallowing for nursing care. This clinical practice guideline was developed according to the Minds Manual for Guideline Development 2017, with the aim of providing a specific pathway for nurses to determine the policy for selecting management for oropharyngeal dysphagia based on research evidence and multifaceted factors including the balance of benefits and harms and patients' values. RESULTS: Based on the 10 clinical questions related to assessment by physical assessment, the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test, Modified Water Swallowing Test, Food Test, cervical auscultation, observation using an ultrasound diagnostic device, and an endoscope, 10 recommendations have been developed. Eight recommendations have been evaluated as the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) 2C, and the other two have been evaluated as no GRADE. CONCLUSION: The first reliable clinical practice guideline has been produced from an academic nursing organization that focuses on assessment for nursing care and incorporates the latest findings.

Development of Pyriform Sinus Suctioning Programs for Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention During the Acute Stroke.

Aspiration due to dysphagia is a factor associated with pneumonia during acute stroke. In such cases, it is likely that secretions in the pyriform sinuses enter the laryngeal inlet. The present study was based on the idea that it is possible to reduce aspiration pneumonia by periodically suctioning and removing such secretions (pyriform sinus suctioning), a study was conducted in a single facility. The incidence of pneumonia as a dependent variable was compared between before (control) and after (intervention group) intervention with pyriform sinus suctioning as an independent variable. With a view of unifying the quality and frequency of intervention, two programs to: initially confirm the safety of such suctioning; subsequently enhance/evaluate knowledge and skills related to the procedure (educational); and specify conditions for the implementation and criteria for determining its appropriateness (practical), were developed. The study involved 33 (mean age: 74.6 ± 12.4) and 30 (80.0 ± 8.8) control and intervention group members, respectively, 25 (83.3%) of the latter were treated with pyriform sinus suctioning for 5 days after a stroke. Pneumonia developed in 7 (21.2%) and 2 (6.7%) of the former and latter, respectively. As individuals with a Japan Coma Scale (JCS) score of III or a midline shift on head CT tend to develop pharyngeal dysphagia, the patients were also divided into 2 groups to compare the incidence of pneumonia based on the risk level: low: Japan Coma Scale scores of I-II without a midline shift on head CT; and high: scores of II-III with it. In the latter, the incidence after intervention was markedly lower (p = 0.06, φ = 0.326), while the former did not show changes (p = 0.574, φ = 0.066), supporting the effectiveness of pyriform sinus suctioning to prevent aspiration pneumonia among patients with a low risk level.