Swallowing examination for ENT specialists

Dysphagias, together with the diseases resulting therefrom, severely reduce patients' quality of life and substantially increase the costs of public health, making efficient therapy a prime concern. Among pathophysiologically oriented diagnostic procedures, the endoscopic examination of swallowing has emerged within the past 20 years as an indispensable standard examination with high sensitivity and specificity. Thus, every ears, nose, and throat (ENT) physician and phoniatric specialist should be familiar with this procedure, in order to ensure widest possible access to it, not only in hospitals but also in outpatient settings and in healthcare establishments. In this article, the preconditions, execution, and evaluation of the endoscopic examination are described and its relevance for immediate or long-term therapeutic treatment is discussed.