Aerodigestive & Esophageal Surgery: Aspiration in TEFs
Most children who aspirate have a functional or neurological problem.
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Cerebral palsy and CHARGE syndrome are examples of functional/neurological causes of aspiration.
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Anatomical problems causing aspiration include tracheoesophageal fistula and laryngeal cleft.
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Bad pharyngeal scarring can cause aspiration in some children.
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Esophageal stenosis with backup and spillover can cause aspiration.
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For children who aspirate food and drink, nasogastric tube or gastrostomy tube can be considered.
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Robinul (glycopyrrolate) can be tried for saliva management but generally does not work.
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Botox injection of major salivary glands is a temporary solution and serves as a good test for how a child would cope with less saliva.
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A drool procedure involves removing the submandibular glands and ligating the parotid ducts.
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Tracheotomy allows suctioning of the airway clear of secretions.
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BiPAP can be placed on a tracheostomy so that secretions are blown up and out of the mouth.
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Laryngotracheal separation is the only guaranteed operation to stop aspiration but results in loss of ability to vocalize.
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Nissen fundoplication or any fundoplication may assist with aspiration of gastroesophageal reflux, as may a GJ tube.
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Children with tight fundoplication and non-motile esophagus can develop accumulation and spillover of esophageal contents leading to aspiration.
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In a child with tracheostomy, the simplest test for aspiration is to put colored dye in the mouth and see if it comes out of the trach tube.
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The dye test can be done at home in a normal setting and repeated, and is helpful to convince skeptical parents that the child is aspirating.
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Video swallow studies and endoscopic swallow studies can be very useful for testing aspiration.
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There are no unequivocal endoscopic markers of aspiration.
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Lipid-laden macrophages are non-specific markers of aspiration.
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Recovery of lipid-laden macrophages depends on what material was aspirated, how much lipid it contained, the amount aspirated, and how long since the aspiration event.
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Lots of lipid-laden macrophages in the right clinical setting provide convincing evidence of aspiration, but it is not a black and white yes/no answer.
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For saliva aspiration testing in a child with tracheotomy, a drop of green food dye on the tongue can be used to see if it comes out the trach tube.
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Green is a good dye color because it is not natural, unlike red or blue which might be confused with body-produced substances.
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For saliva aspiration testing without tracheotomy, a nuclear medicine scan with a drop of radioactive material on the tongue can show if it ends up in the lungs or stomach.
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As markers for aspiration, reflux tests are not particularly good.
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Multi-channel intraluminal impedance testing has mostly replaced simple pH testing for detection of reflux.
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Multi-channel intraluminal impedance testing does not add anything to the diagnosis of aspiration itself; it tells whether something is being delivered from the stomach to the esophagus but not what happens after that.
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QUAD #22: What is CHARGE syndrome? with Dr. Catherine Hart
The CHARGE acronym stands for coloboma, heart defects, atresia of the choana, retardation of growth and development, genital and/or urinary anomalies, and ear malformations.
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CHARGE syndrome is caused by a CHD7 mutation on chromosome 8.
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A population of children with CHARGE syndrome will have a negative test for CHD7 but can still have CHARGE syndrome based on clinical criteria.
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