To better assess patients’ oral and pharyngeal functioning for the purpose of easing swallowing disorders, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Bracco Diagnostics Inc.’s Varibar Nectar (barium sulfate) Oral Suspension.
Difficulty in swallowing derives from multiple causes — from congenital irregularities, infections or diseases to side effects of recovery or surgery and abnormal growths. If not addressed, swallowing disorders can become very serious, with complications including dehydration, weight loss, pneumonia, airway obstruction, impaired quality of life and even death.
Bracco’s Varibar product is designed for use together with standard modified barium swallow (MBS) examinations in both adults and children. Its benefits include conduciveness to high-quality imaging and measurement; formulation consistency, and ease of use.
Viscosity, important in MBS exams, was designed to provide tolerable texture and taste, such as an apple flavor to encourage patient compliance.
"Accurate and reliable measure of the swallowing process is key for proper patient management," Dr. Alberto Spinazzi, Bracco Group’s senior vice president of global medical and regulatory affairs, said. “The Varibar product line was developed in cooperation with speech language pathologists and radiologists to optimize the diagnostic performance and reliability of MBS studies.”
Spinazzi added that the FDA’s approval “reinforces our dedication to meet medical needs."
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