'Barium pill stuck in throat (valleculae) & then food tube (esophagus)'

00:26 Apr 20, 2022 1 1

'This is a videofluoroscopic swallow study on a person with difficulty swallowing pills. The pill is first swallowed embedded in applesauce (cannot see the applesauce on the motion x-ray image). You can see how the pill gets stuck behind the tongue in the throat/pharynx. It is sitting in the valleculae (a pocket in the throat made up of the back of the tongue/tongue base and the epiglottis).  The person uses a small sip of thin liquid, which helps clear the pill, but this can be risky, as people can aspirate the liquid while trying to get the pill down.  Then you see the pill sitting in the food tube/esophagus. It did not clear down all the way to the stomach.  This can leave the feeling of the pill stuck, and people may point to the notch area at the base of the neck. People often get a \"referred sensation\" to the neck even when the food and pills are stuck lower in the esophagus. People do not have such good sensation of when food and pills are stuck in the esophagus. We often cannot differentiate when the item is stuck in the throat versus the esophagus. This is why you need imaging to scan the throat/pharynx and the esophagus with food, liquids and pills to really be sure that they are all emptying into the stomach well. Ask your doctor for a consultation with a speech-language pathologist who specializes in swallowing. They can start with a videofluoroscopic swallow study (aka, modified barium swallow study) like this one, and this visit will include a full interview to learn about your struggles with difficulty swallowing (dysphagia).' 

Tags: esophagus , pharynx , pill dysphagia , globus sensation , videofluoroscopic swallow study , modified barium swallow study , videoswallow study , pill stuck , choking on pills , valleculae , pharyngeal dysphagia , esophageal dysphagia

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