Feasibility of Oral Feeding in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness

Eating and drinking are basic pleasures of life, considered as obvious to most of us. However, the ease with which we perform these actions masks the complexity of the underlying neuronal control. According to several studies, the frequency of dysphagia among subjects with severe brain injury is frequent. Faced with the difficult management of patients with an altered state of consciousness, the use of gustatory stimuli, as well as the rehabilitation of swallowing could constitute a supplementary therapy which is currently rarely considered. This review aims to summarize our current knowledge regarding the neural control of swallowing, to assess the role of awareness and willingness on the control of swallowing and, finally, to establish the feasibility of oral feeding in patients with disorders of consciousness.