Disfagia y neurología: ¿una unión indefectible?

NTRODUCTION:
Dysphagia is a sign and accompanying symptom, with a high prevalence of neurological and neuromuscular disorders, being responsible for several of the major complications that negatively impact neurological recovery such as aspiration, respiratory infections, malnutrition and dehydration. Ironically dysphagia, being so frequent and produced by multiple pathophysiological processes, is one of the most neglected disorders in terms of diagnosis and treatment by health professionals.

OBJECTIVE:
To invite health professionals, to know about neurogenic and neuromuscular dysphagia, its etiology, manifestations, consequences and clinical aspects for its recognition.

DEVELOPMENT:
Revision of the topic from an epidemiological and clinical perspective of the state of the art in neurogenic and neuromuscular dysphagia.

CONCLUSIONS:
Dysphagia alters the safety of the airway and modifies the neurological patient's prognosis in several ways. The main causes of dysphagia are of neurological origin (stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and dementias), as there is a close relation and almost indefectible union between neurological and neuromuscular diseases and disorders with alteration of one or various components of the process. Although there are complementary studies to recognize dysphagia, semiology and physical examination are the central points to recognize the spectrum and etiological variability of dysphagia.