Impaired Swallowing and Eating Abilities May be a Sign of Another Condition Resulting from Errors by a Healthcare Provider in NJ
When an older adult or child has trouble swallowing, a doctor may diagnose dysphagia. Most often found in senior adults, dysphagia is a painful condition that may inhibit or prevent swallowing and can be a serious health hazard. Though seniors suffer from dysphagia more than other groups, anyone can have it. In fact, it commonly occurs in children with other conditions and birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy.
Primary Categories of Dysphagia
Dysphagia can be one of two main types: esophageal and oropharyngeal. Patients suffering from the first type feel like food sticks to the back of the throat or chest when swallowing. The condition may result from progressive nerve or muscle damage, referred to as achalasia.
Other causes include a spasming or narrowed esophagus. Erratic contractions of the esophagus, the tube that connects the throat to the stomach, can affect swallowing, as can a constricted esophagus. When the tube is too narrow due to GERD-induced scars or tumors, food sticks in the throat. An esophageal ring is sometimes the case when the lower esophagus narrows.
Tumors and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), when stomach acids back up into the throat and damage the esophagus, can cause narrowing and spasms when either condition damages the tube. Narrowing or spasms can cause food to block the throat, which is more common in older adults. A blocked esophagus can also cause esophageal dysphagia.
Other illnesses, such as eosinophilic esophagitis, Scleroderma, and cancer, may affect the esophagus. Eosinophilic esophagitis is a disease of the immune system that causes white blood cells to pool in the esophagus. Another immune system defect, Scleroderma, causes inflammation that hardens the esophageal tissue. The result is a weakened esophagus that collects acid and causes heartburn. Finally, radiation therapy for cancer often inflames and scars the esophagus.
The other type, oropharyngeal dysphagia, is due to weakened throat muscles from neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, strokes, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, or other causes of neurological damage can affect swallowing.
Another condition, pharyngoesophageal diverticulum, prevents easy swallowing when a diverticulum or pocket collects food in the throat, resulting in swallowing difficulty and throat irritation. Cancers and their treatments are also responsible for this type of dysphagia.
Common Conditions Leading to Dysphagia in Adults
Since adults may suffer from diseases and conditions affecting the brain, they are prone to developing dysphagia. Older people are more likely to suffer a stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, dementia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases affecting the central nervous system and nerves that affect swallowing.
Head and neck problems also trigger dysphasia. So, aside from cancers and cancer treatments, adults suffer head and neck traumas, including surgery and intubation or tracheostomy, which are mechanisms to allow air into the lungs when injuries or diseases prevent normal breathing. Tooth decay, medication side effects, hyperthyroidism, infections, lung disease, gastrointestinal conditions, heart surgeries, and fragility can also contribute to adult dysphagia.
Frequent Reasons for Dysphagia in Infants and Children
When children get dysphagia, underlying diseases, conditions, and injuries are some of the possible causes. For example, Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition associated with oxygen deprivation before or during birth, is associated with swallowing issues.
Developmental disabilities and neurological disorders may also result from HIE and other birth injuries or congenital disorders. Cerebral Palsy, a neuromuscular condition, can affect the muscle coordination needed to perform swallowing. Prematurity is also a primary culprit in coordination issues between the brain and muscles.
Central nervous system disorders in children may be birth-related or accident-induced, but sometimes inherited syndromes cause swallowing disorders. Children born with mouth and throat abnormalities may have trouble swallowing or have genetic conditions that cause sensory issues that prevent swallowing. Finally, medication side effects are potential causes of childhood dysphasia.
Recognizing Dysphagia in Babies, Children, and Adults
While some symptoms of dysphagia are common to other conditions, the combination of several may persuade a physician to test for or diagnose dysphagia. Symptoms in adults include drooling, inability to chew, delayed swallowing of food, inability to close lips, chewing for a long time, food or liquid leakage from the nose, painful swallowing, sensation of stuck food in the neck, voice changes linked to eating or drinking, coughing, throat clearing, the sensation of regurgitation, choking, eating habit changes, weight loss, and frequent respiratory problems.
Children may experience the same symptoms but also sound hoarse, cry at meals, arch their backs, vomit, gag, regurgitate, and have heartburn, which commonly indicates dysphagia. Adults and children have trouble swallowing, feel sticking in the throat, and are prone to avoiding certain foods that get stuck.
Secondary Conditions Caused by Dysphagia
People with dysphagia are more likely to aspirate food, which can cause pneumonia. They are also more likely to suffer from nutrition deficiencies, associated diseases, and death. Children are especially vulnerable to mealtime stress and difficulty speaking, brushing teeth, and other oral competencies.
Medical Provider Mistakes Resulting in Dysphagia
Although dysphagia may have genetic causes, some children and adults suffer from the condition due to medical negligence. For one, obstetricians may fail to perform their duties competently and miss signs of difficult labor and delivery which ultimately leads to oxygen deprivation for the baby. Insufficient prenatal care and negligent delivery decisions like delayed C-section or mishandling of birth instruments can cause conditions like Cerebral Palsy or head, mouth, and neck injuries. Infant brain damage is a leading cause of dysphagia in babies, which is preventable in many cases if it were not for errors by physicians and other members of the healthcare team. Moreover, Speech and Language Pathology therapists can misidentify dysphagia and fail to treat the condition, causing patients to develop malnutrition or other possibly fatal conditions.
Speech and Language Pathology therapists, obstetricians, and other medical professionals involved in the care and treatment of pregnant women, children, and adults are expected to practice medicine and provide healthcare that meets acceptable standards of their professions. In other words, medical professionals must follow sufficient, competent practices, given the patient, the education, and the training of the medical professional. When they make unconscionable mistakes, they breach their duty of care and all too often cause permanent harm to those counting on them.
Obtaining Compensation for Dysphagia Malpractice in New Jersey
Adults and children who suffer harm due to medical malpractice involving dysphagia have the right to obtain compensation that supports them in their recovery, management, and living with the results of their injuries. In all age groups, dysphagia requires ongoing help with professional speech and language therapies, medications, and medical treatments. The patient and their loved ones should not have to suffer economic losses to cover the expenses associated with their health care and other needs when someone else with a duty to protect them caused their injuries.
Moreover, the pain, suffering, physical, and mental injuries sustained are recoverable in a medical malpractice claim. A lawsuit is a vehicle for seeking reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, past and future, along with the many intangible consequences of dysphagia and any underlying conditions caused or worsened by a medical practitioner’s negligence. You may also recover wrongful death damages for the loss of a loved one resulting from dysphagia and medical malpractice.
The Experienced NJ Attorneys at Fronzuto Law Group are Prepared to Assist with Your Dysphagia Malpractice Case
You may have a right to compensation for dysphagia-related healthcare provider mistakes, but the legal process is cumbersome without an attorney who regularly handles medical malpractice claims. You may not obtain a settlement or damages award, or obtain less than what you deserve. When your future hinges on the outcome of your case, it is best not to walk this road alone. Much knowledge, skill, and work goes into preparing a case for receiving or winning compensation. Therefore, you are wise to obtain the assistance of the formidable medical malpractice lawyers at Fronzuto Law Group, who have spent decades focusing our practice entirely on medical malpractice litigation in New Jersey. From investigation, to preparation, negotiation, and litigation, our legal team will dedicate all of our insight and resources to your claim’s success.
Call (973)-435-4551 to speak with one of our skilled medical malpractice attorneys about your dysphagia case. You can also reach out to us online and we will get in touch with you shortly.
