• Research blog
Tuesday, 21. October 2025

Medication administration in post-stroke dysphagia: Evaluating swallowing safety of solid dosage forms

Recent Publication


Many people have problems swallowing tablets after a stroke. The new study by researchers from the Clinical Department of Neurology at Tulln University Hospital investigated how safely patients with dysphagia can take tablets. They compared whether crushing tablets is really safer than swallowing whole tablets. The result shows: Whole tablets were surprisingly often swallowed safely, while crushed tablets did not provide a clear advantage. On the contrary, after taking crushed tablets, medication residue often remained in the throat. This could impair the effectiveness of the medication.

Trapl-Grundschober, M., Struhal, W., Teuschl, Y., Schulz, S., Sollereder, S., & Osterbrink, J. (2025). Medication Administration in Poststroke Dysphagia: Evaluating Swallowing Safety of Solid Dosage Forms. Stroke, 56(9), 2494-2502. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.125.051237

Prim. Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. Walter Struhal MSc FEAN

Division of Neurology (University Hospital Tulln)