2026/09/16 11:26
Director Zeng Yinting operates instruments to improve the patient's tongue, jaw, and pharynx chewing and swallowing abilities. (Situational photo, provided by Asia University Hospital)
[Reporter Xu Guozhen/Taichung Report] Mr. Lai, 73, of Taichung City, suffered a stroke in February this year (2026). Although he was lucky to survive, his swallowing function was damaged. During the hospitalization, he had to rely on nasogastric tube force-feeding to survive, and his quality of life fell to the bottom. However, He persisted in rehabilitating hard during his hospitalization. After being discharged from the hospital, he immediately started home swallowing training at the speech therapy center and cooperated with the medical team to customize the treatment course. Six months later, the nasogastric tube was successfully removed. When he tasted the lion head made by his family for the first time, he was so moved that he said: "It is simply the most delicious thing in the world."
Zhou Liwei, executive vice president and director of the Rehabilitation Department of Asia University Hospital, pointed out that for every stroke and swallowing disorder patient, being discharged from the hospital does not mean that swallowing rehabilitation has been completed. Taking hospital statistics as an example, among 37 patients who had nasogastric tubes due to dysphagia, 14 were successfully extubated before leaving the hospital, but 23 still left the hospital with nasogastric tubes. How to keep these patients who have not been extubated with swallowing treatment is an important care issue and mission for the medical team.
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"At that time, I couldn't even chew a mouthful of food, and my life felt bleak." Mr. Lai recalled that he worked hard to cooperate with rehabilitation during his hospitalization. Later, although he was able to try chopped and soft foods, his food intake was still insufficient and he would choke when drinking water. When he was discharged from the hospital in June, the nasogastric tube was still in the nasal cavity. For this reason, the hospital decided to arrange to connect with the "Firefly Home Speech Therapy Center" to provide home swallowing training.
During the process, the director, Dr. Zeng Yinting, who is also a speech therapist, developed an individualized plan based on the patient's swallowing ability. He gradually adjusted food texture, food intake, swallowing posture and techniques, and introduced tools such as oral muscle strength testing, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, surface electromyography biofeedback and jaw resistance exercise to objectively After collecting the data on muscle strength and swallowing performance, and then adjusting the training content on a rolling basis, the nasogastric tube was finally removed in July, and most food can be taken orally. Recently, his family specially prepared his favorite braised lion head. When he took the first bite of home-cooked food after extubation, he was instantly pulled back by the familiar taste and called it "the most delicious thing in the world."
The team from the Rehabilitation Department of Asia University Hospital joins hands with the home-based speech therapy center to help nasogastric tube patients get rid of dysphagia as soon as possible. (Provided by Asia University Hospital)
