In a definition essay, you explain the meaning of a certain term by giving a detailed description of it, and support your definition with clear examples or facts. Such explanations are needed if a term is special, abstract, disputed or does not have a common meaning.
Dysphagia may be caused by traumatic injuries to the head, neck, or chest and result from accidents or iatrogenic causes. In the latter category, both planned and inadvertent injuries to cranial nerves are common. Many accident victims have involvement of multiple sites.
The consequences of dysphagia include dehydration, starvation, aspiration pneumonia and airway obstruction.1,2 Dysphagia may result from or complicate disorders such as stroke, Parkinson's disease and cancer. Indeed, aspiration pneumonia is a common cause of death in hospitalized patients. This article reviews the basic concepts of normal and abnormal swallowing, methods of evaluating dysphagia, and treatment strategies, with emphasis on disorders of oral and pharyngeal swallowing.