Causes
How We Can Help You
Dysphagia is a swallowing disorder that causes difficulty or pain while swallowing or attempting to swallow. Anyone can develop dysphagia, but it is more likely to occur in older people. This condition can make it difficult for people to get adequate nutrition and can significantly affect quality of life.
At Stanford, our gastrointestinal experts evaluate people who are having difficulty swallowing to determine the cause and plan symptom-relieving treatment. We target the root cause of swallowing problems and offer innovative treatment solutions to help you return to your best health.
What We Offer You for Dysphagia
- Multispecialty care from board-certified gastrointestinal experts who collaborate to diagnose and quickly treat the cause of dysphagia.
- Advanced diagnostic technology not available elsewhere to assess your esophagus and precisely determine the cause of your dysphagia.
- Swallowing study expertise and special diagnostic techniques to help pinpoint the source of the problem.
- Minimally invasive treatments to help manage and prevent symptoms of dysphagia, resulting in a shorter hospital stay and easier recovery.
- Easy access to our doctors, diagnostic testing, and treatment services through two convenient locations.
Treatment for Dysphagia
The symptoms of dysphagia, including difficulty or pain when you swallow, can often cause significant stress and worry. At Stanford, we understand your concerns and work quickly to provide treatment that will relieve your symptoms while targeting the cause of dysphagia.
We use the latest technology to help diagnose dysphagia and assess your unique needs. Our experienced physicians offer many types of diagnostic tests, including high-resolution esophageal manometry, 24-hour reflux monitoring, EndoFlip, and barium esophagram studies.
Our testing expertise helps ensure that your diagnosis is accurate, providing your doctors with all possible information to develop a care plan tailored to your needs.
Our doctors have decades of experience helping people find relief from dysphagia symptoms. Your doctor can develop a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses your unique medical needs while helping your body heal. Depending on your needs, your care plan may include one of the following treatments:
Our goal is to provide the least invasive treatment possible to improve your quality of life.
Dietary modification
Dysphagia can interfere with the amount of nutrition you can get from food. Our dietitians identify healthy dietary changes, including nutrition supplements, to ensure that you receive adequate nutrients each day.
Endoscopy
Endoscopic procedures are a mainstay of dysphagia treatment. Through this approach, we use minimally invasive procedures to correct structural problems in your esophagus, like narrowed areas (strictures), and take tissue samples (biopsy) if needed.
Your doctor uses a thin, flexible tube containing a miniature light and specialized equipment to view the interior of your esophagus. We also use endoscopes to perform certain treatments on esophageal tissues. Endoscopic procedures for dysphagia include:
Dilation: In this procedure, our doctors use miniature balloons and small, flexible tubes (bougies) to gently stretch open a narrowed esophagus. In rare cases, we may implant a thin, flexible mesh (stent), if needed, to keep your esophagus open.
Pneumatic dilation: This advanced procedure uses larger balloons to stretch particularly refractory, or unresponsive, areas of your esophagus. Our doctors have advanced training in pneumatic dilation.
Functional luminal imaging: Stanford is the only health care center in the Bay Area to offer treatment with Endoflip® 2.0, which uses a thin tube (catheter) to dilate your esophagus to a specific width.
Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM): This endoscopic procedure allows doctors to access the inner esophageal wall from inside your esophagus
Laparoscopy
In some cases, dysphagia does not respond to initial treatments. For people with severe dysphagia caused by achalasia that other therapies cannot relieve, Stanford offers Heller myotomy, a laparoscopic procedure.
During this minimally invasive procedure, your doctor uses a small incision to access the interior of your abdomen. Using a narrow, lighted tube and specialized surgical instruments, the doctor makes several small cuts (incisions) in the muscles of your lower esophagus. This procedure helps relieve symptoms and ease the process of swallowing.
Clinical Trials
We offer one of the nation’s most robust clinical trial programs for dysphagia. These research studies evaluate new medical approaches, devices, drugs, and other treatments.
As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials. Open trials refer to studies currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
To learn more about the clinical trials we offer, contact Divya Pathak at 650-721-8436.
What Is Dysphagia?
Our Clinics
Doctors from multiple specialties use the latest technology to quickly diagnose conditions involving the larynx (voice box), airway, and esophagus. Working together, our specialists develop personalized treatment plans to help manage the symptoms of dysphagia.
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To schedule an appointment, please call: 650-723-5281