KARACHI: Dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing ) can be incurable if not properly diagnosed. As the symptoms of dysphagia are similar to ENT and gastroenteritis , it is difficult to diagnose, which results in suffering of the patient. The Department of Head and Neck Surgery at Dow University and the National Institute of Gastroenterology Liver Disease (NILGID) are both coordinated for diagnosis and satisfactory treatment of this disease.
It was said by the health experts while expressing their views in the academic session and panel discussion titled “Updates on Dysphagia Management” at Dow International Medical College’s PDC Chief Guests Pro-Vice Chancellor Dow University of Health Sciences Prof. Nazli Hussain and,Dr. Shadaba Ahmed, a surgeon who came from the UK, described their experiences as Guest Speaker.Apart from them, Dr. Zeba Haque, Dr. Zeba Ahmed, Prof. Shuja Farrukh, Prof. Atif Hafeez Siddiqui, Dr. Zahid Azam, Dr. Hafeezullah Sheikh, and others spoke. Dr. Shadaba Ahmed said in his lecture that 50 percent of patients who come for medical help with a complaint of difficulty in eating and drinking usually suffer from dysphagia.
She said that usually the symptoms of dysphagia are similar to nose, ear and throat diseases symptoms , so dysphagia is difficult to diagnosed.It is important for ENT post graduate doctors to take proper history of patients . She said that if the patient has difficulty in chewing and swallowing, it is called “upper dysphagia” while discomfort in the esophagus is called “esophageal dysphagia”. She said that globally, four percent of people suffering from various diseases suffer from dysphagia. Dysphagia is an obstruction of the passage from the mouth (oral cavity) to the stomach. The diagnosis of dysphagia is delayed due to the presence of symptoms of dysphagia and odynophagia. In Odynophagia pain and swelling is present in the throat. She said that transnasal esophageal endoscopy (TNE) is a better method for effective treatment of dysphagia. She also said that the surprising thing is that no standard has been set for the treatment of dysphagia in the UK, but guidelines have definitely been set. Doctors treat dysphagia in different ways as per their convenience. She said that she treats it by transnasal esophageal endoscopy, i.e. inserting a tube (endoscope) through the nose into the esophagus. She also said that the delay in the diagnosis of dysphagia is also due to searching through the Internet because nowadays “Google and Yahoo Doctor” are available to everyone. Diagnosing dysphagia requires focusing on the history along with the patient’s symptoms. Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nazli Hussain said that the updates provided by Dr. Shadaba in the light of her experiences in the UK will be very useful for our post-graduate doctors. Dr. Zahid Azam said that after a correct diagnosis of dysphagia, he consult to an ENT before starting treatment.
Professor Atif Hafeez Siddiqui said that due to being a multidisciplinary disease, some cases of dysphagia are not properly diagnosed and the patient becomes incurable due to cancer or any other complication. At the end of the ceremony, Prof. Nazli Hussain gave a commemorative shield to Dr. Shadaba Ahmed, ENT consultant from UK, while in the panel discussion, postgraduate students also presented cases of dysphagia and the panel desk also gave expert advice in this regard. Later, certificates were also given to the students who presented the cases.
