Prevention of barium aspiration during videofluoroscopic swallowing studies: value of change in posture.

We investigated the frequency with which changes in the position of a patient's head or body eliminated aspiration of liquid barium during videofluoroscopic swallowing studies in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia. We also studied factors that influenced the effect of posture on aspiration.The study group comprised 165 patients consecutively referred for videofluoroscopic examination of the oropharyngeal stages of swallowing in whom...