Patient HTK (45 years old, Ben Tre province) is currently being treated at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital. 6 months ago, Mr. K. began to have difficulty swallowing and always felt like food was stuck in the esophagus, especially when eating solid foods such as meat and fish. However, he did not pay too much attention because he thought this was just a normal phenomenon and would go away on its own.
After a short time, his feeling of choking increased. Even liquid foods were difficult for him to swallow and he felt it more clearly. At this time, Mr. K. went to the hospital for a check-up.
After performing clinical diagnostic techniques, Mr. K. was diagnosed with stage 3 esophageal cancer and needed active treatment intervention, including radiotherapy.
"At the beginning of the radiotherapy, I felt my throat was more difficult to swallow, but the doctor advised that it was a side effect of the treatment. I had difficulty eating, but thanks to nutritional intervention, my condition improved," Mr. K. shared.
According to Dr. Tran Thi Anh Tuong - Head of Nutrition Department, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, when a patient has problems swallowing, it is necessary to find the root cause in order to intervene properly.
If the cause is cancer, the patient definitely needs cancer treatment. For example, for tongue cancer patients who have difficulty chewing, the cancerous part of the tongue needs to be removed to solve the swallowing problem from the root.
Or, for patients with esophageal cancer, chemotherapy and radiation therapy to the tumor are needed to improve swallowing.
Thus, to treat swallowing disorders, it is necessary to address the root cause of the problem.
In cases where the underlying cause cannot be addressed, such as in patients with malnutrition, nutritional intervention will be given to increase muscle strength.
If the cancer is beyond treatment, doctors will look for solutions to help the patient adapt, to ensure the patient can continue to eat and drink.
Many patients are concerned about choosing the right foods when they have swallowing disorders. According to nutritional principles, patients should eat foods that are thick, which helps control the speed of swallowing and reduces the risk of choking. If swallowing is difficult, thick foods are also easier to swallow than solid foods.
In the field of nutrition, food and drinks are divided into 7 different levels of viscosity. Therefore, patients with swallowing disorders need to go to the nutrition department so that the doctor can conduct a test to assess the level of swallowing, thereby advising on the appropriate type of food.
Some foods should not be eaten, such as dry, hard foods (peanuts, cashews, peanut candy, cakes, spicy foods, etc.), because they can easily cause choking and make swallowing worse.
Another important thing when treating swallowing disorders is to strengthen the patient's muscles and swallowing force through physical therapy exercises, which helps improve swallowing function.
These exercises are very simple, but require perseverance to do them every day.
In cases where all interventions have been applied and still do not improve swallowing function, the patient may need to have a feeding tube inserted to ensure full recovery. Despite the tube, the patient will still be able to eat through the mouth.
