Recent Advances in Rehabilitation for Aspiration Pneumonia

Abstract

Respiration and swallowing are intimately related to each other. The respiration center and the swallowing center in the brain stem are located very closely and the activation of each center inhibits the other center in a very sophisticated way. Therefore, the rehabilitation for aspiration pneumonia should be the combination of pulmonary and dysphagia rehabilitations. Dysphagia rehabilitation includes food modification, oral hygiene, indirect and direct training, and positioning. Since the rehabilitation for aspiration pneumonia is covered in the wide range, the rehabilitation is a comprehensive intervention. The best strategy to achieve the comprehensive interventions is making the multidisciplinary team with various medical amenities. The decision to stop and start eating should be made by concluding under multidisciplinary discussion. The construction of the system towards dysphagia is a key of successful rehabilitation for aspiration pneumonia.