What is the gag reflex?
What is the gag reflex in stroke?
Why should gag reflex not be performed?
What is the best way to test gag reflex?
Why do you need deep sedation before intubating?
When is the gag reflex necessary?
Which nerves control the gag reflex?
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How to assess gag reflex? - Nursing Student Assistance - allnurses
A gag reflex can be elicited by mere light touching of the posterior wall of the oropharynx with a tongue blade. The patient should have immediate elevation of the palate, the muscles of the pharynx should constrict, and the patient should begin making gagging sounds indicating a normal gag reflex.
What is the Gag Reflex? | Why Do People Gag | Live Science
The gag reflex, also known as the pharyngeal reflex or laryngeal spasm, is a contraction of the back of the throat triggered by an object touching the roof of your mouth, the back of your tongue ...
What is the gag reflex?
The gag reflex is a natural reaction to prevent a person from choking or eating something unpleasant. A gag reflex. Trusted Source. , or pharyngeal reflex, is a normal bodily response. It prevents swallowing by contracting the pharynx. The pharynx.
What are the two types of stimuli that trigger gag reflexes?
Two types of stimuli can trigger a gag reflex: somatogenic and psychogenic.
How to desensitize a gag reflex?
A person may desensitize their gag reflex by accustoming the trigger point in their mouth to touch. One technique that a person can try is taking their toothbrush and slowly moving it toward the back of their tongue until they feel close to gagging. They can then brush that area for 15–30 seconds.
Why do I gag when I touch something?
A person may gag due to a physical stimulus, such as an object touching a sensitive point in the mouth. Alternatively, they may gag due to a mental stimulus, such as a grotesque thought. In some cases, physical and mental stimuli may occur simultaneously. A person with a sensitive gag reflex may wish to consider techniques such as acupuncture, ...
What is the purpose of gag reflex?
The main purpose of a gag reflex is to contract the throat to prevent a person from choking.
What happens when a trigger point is activated?
The activation of a trigger point causes nerve signals to pass to the brain, which then signals the pharynx to contract.
How long does it take to stop gag reflex?
It may also take years of physical and mental retraining to stop a gag reflex. However, it is possible that some people have no gag reflex, have a higher threshold to physical trigger points, or are yet to face a sensation extreme enough to cause them to gag.
What is a VNS device?
Such devices (referred to generically as vagus nerve stimulating devices , or VNS devices) have been used successfully to treat people with severe epilepsy that is refractory to drug therapy. VNS therapy is also sometimes used to treat refractory depression. 6 .
What is the effect of vagus nerve stimulation?
Stimulating the vagus nerve can have therapeutic effects (such as stopping episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) or hiccups 3 ), and can help doctors diagnose certain kinds of heart murmurs. Vagal stimulation can be achieved quite easily by employing the Valsalva maneuver .
Why is the vagus nerve important?
Because the vagus nerve has so many important functions, medical science has been interested for decades in the idea of employing vagus nerve stimulation, or vagus nerve blocking, in medical therapy. For decades, the vagotomy procedure (cutting the vagus nerve) was a mainstay of therapy for peptic ulcer disease, ...
What is the vagus nerve?
Anatomy. Function. Medical Therapy. The vagus nerve is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system and is one of the most important nerves in the body. The vagus nerve helps to regulate many critical aspects of human physiology, including the heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, digestion, and even speaking.
Which nerve is responsible for sinus bradycardia?
The right vagus nerve supplies the sinus node, and its stimulation can produce sinus bradycardia. The left vagus nerve supplies the AV node, and its stimulation can produce a form of heart block. It is by producing transient heart block that the Valsalva maneuver can terminate many kinds of SVT. 4 .
How many vagus nerves are there?
While there are actually two vagus nerves (the left and the right), doctors usually refer to them together as “the vagus nerve.”
Where is the vagus nerve located?
The vagus nerve (also known as the 10th cranial nerve or CN X) is a very long nerve that originates in the brain stem and extends down through the neck and into the chest and abdomen. It carries both motor and sensory information, and it supplies innervation to the heart, major blood vessels, airways, lungs, esophagus, ...
Problem 21 Easy Difficulty
Which nerve is responsible for controlling the muscles that result in the gag reflex? a. trigeminal b. facial c. glossopharyngeal d. vagus
Video Transcript
to answer this question. We must be familiar with the various cranial nerves. So as we know, all of our answer choices are going to be the different cranial nerves that we have. However, when we're talking about the gag reflex, we are focusing on Lee on two of these cranial nerves. We have cranial nerves nine and we have cranial right nerve 10.
What is the gag reflex?
The gag reflex, also known as the pharyngeal reflex, is a reflex contraction of the muscles of the posterior pharynx after stimulation of the posterior pharyngeal wall, tonsillar area, or base of the tongue. The gag reflex is believed to be an evolutionary reflex that developed as a method to prevent the aspiration of solid food particles. It is an essential component of evaluating the medullary brainstem and plays a role in the declaration of brain death. [1]
What is the gag reflex in stroke?
The gag reflex once served as a method to detect dysphagia in the setting of acute stroke. In one study comparing gag reflex to bedside swallowing assessment in 242 patients, the researchers found that the absence of gag reflex was specific for and consistent with the inability to swallow as assessed at the bedside but not sensitive in stroke patients. The study showed that the specificity of the gag reflex in detecting dysphagia was 96%, and sensitivity was to be 39%. However, an intact gag reflex does indicate the presence of protection against long-term swallowing issues and predicts a decreased requirement for enteral feeding in the future. [7]
Why should gag reflex not be performed?
During the assessment of the airway for intubation in an obtunded patient, the gag reflex should not be performed due to the risk of vomiting and subsequent aspiration. [5]
What is the best way to test gag reflex?
Equipment: The gag reflex can be elicited using a tongue blade or soft cotton applicator. In an intubated patient, a suction device may be most convenient to use for testing.
Why do you need deep sedation before intubating?
Before intubating a patient, deep sedation is necessary to confirm the absence of the gag reflex, which is in contrast to when patients receive only minimal and moderate sedation, where the presence of the gag reflex should be confirmed so that the airway is protected. [9]
When is the gag reflex necessary?
Finally, performing the gag reflex is a must when assessing brainstem function as part of determining brain death. Confirmation of brain death is done in part by absent brainstem reflexes, which includes absent gag reflex. [10]
Which nerves control the gag reflex?
Control of the gag reflex is by both the glossopharyngeal (IX) and vagus (X) nerves , which serve as the afferent and the efferent limbs for the reflex arc, respectively. The nerve roots of cranial nerves IX and X exit the medulla through the jugular foramen and descend on either side of the pharynx to finally innervate the posterior pharynx, posterior one-third of the tongue, soft palate, and the stylopharyngeus muscle. [2]
