Objective : The 2014 Medical Treatment Reward Revision in Japan newly defines the oral intake recovery rate and requires a change of more than 35% to calculate various additions and subtractions. We calculated the recovery rate in various diseases and clarified some inherent problems. Methods : From April 2012 to March 2014, we retrospectively investigated the age, sex, removal rate from nasal nutrition or gastric fistula, oral intake recovery rate and days until removal of 286 inpatients with nasal nutrition or gastric fistula for dysphagia. Results : The removal rates for stroke, brain injury, oral and laryngopharyngeal cancer and other diseases were nearly always more than 50% because the disease did not cause dysphagia directly or the rehabilitation was effective for treating the remaining dysphagia. But the removal rates for neurodegenerative disease, complications due to stroke and brain injury in the chronic phase and respiratory disease did not reach 35% because the previous dysphagia progressed or actualized. Almost all oral intake recovery rates did not extend to 35% for exclusion of oral intake recovery within one month. Conclusion : The criteria of oral intake recovery rate needs to be reviewed in respect to setting goals to match the patient's underlying disease and to evaluate the possibility for early rehabilitation.

Videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing (VF) is widely used for evaluating swallowing function. However, pulmonary complications after VF are seldom evaluated. We checked residual barium sulfate on chest X-rays and early pulmonary complication after VF. One hundred and ninety-eight patients underwent VF and chest X-rays. Eighty-six patients who did not aspirate during VF had no residual barium on their chest X-rays. One hundred and twelve patients aspirated during VF, but only 40 of these patients showed residual barium on their chest X-rays. Ten patients had fever after VF, but no significant relationship was observed between fever and residual barium on chest X-rays or aspiration. Aspiration was not correlated with mobility or cognitive status. One case had pneumonia after VF, but VF did not seem to be the cause of the pneumonia. In conclusion, no severe early pulmonary complications after VF were observed. It is difficult to predict early pulmonary complications from chest X-rays.