Endoscopic procedures in dysphagia assessed in Swedish Skåne Region in August 2019

In Sweden, the County Councils are grouped into six healthcare regions to facilitate cooperation and to maintain a high level of advanced medical care. One of them is the Priority Council of Skåne Region established in 2015, which has a long-term mission to oversee the use of drugs and medical methods in the region, as well as managing individual cases. Its role in relation to market access is to prepare and present suggestions for new methods, routines, and treatments, to be included in the healthcare system, to the Regional Executive Board.

In August 2019, the Priority Council of Skane Region has published a health technology assessment opinion for fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and videofluoroscopy (VFS) in the diagnosis of dysphagia, which describes the evidence base of these procedures in patients with dysphagia in Region Skåne. The following conclusions were provided:

• The analysis has shown that in accordance with comprehensive scientific literature, VFS and FEES are clinically well-established procedures. However, there are no studies that shown that the use of VFS or FEES in dysphagia lead to significant patient benefit or other added value. The evaluation of the diagnostic precision of the methods is also difficult due to the absence of an established definition of disease
• The analysis has shown that there are several medium or high-quality diagnostic studies, which shown that both procedures have good and equal coherence between different assessors and in repeated assessments
• It was also stated that the study of dysphagia in Region Skåne is divided into several business areas. In that case, the establishment of one multidisciplinary center could improve patient flows and provide unique care.

See the full information in Swedish here.

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