Can anyone advise on a suction machine to remove excess saliva?

[NewspaperTaxis]

Hi, we have got a nebuliser for our live-at-home dad, it works well and is obtainable from Boots chemist at the hospital's suggestion. But Boots have nothing in the way of a suction machine, of the kind provided in hospital. Not much recommended on Amazon, either, though there is one option there.

Does anyone have any recommendations? There are quite a few on the net, but reviews are few and far between, so at around £200 a go it feels like a leap in the dark. Of course, I'm talking about the kind of thing being 'portable' in the sense of being small and dinky, not the big thing on offer in hospital. It doesn't need to be actually portable, just okay for a bedside table.

Can I ask why he can't swallow the saliva? Stroke? Cancer? Does he have a specialist medical team to ask? There are medications which can help with excess saliva- hyoscine- but it would need to be prescribed.

There are hand held suction devices which use a hand pump and don't require batteries or electrics:

It's more a bit of acid reflux - he has some prescribed medication for that but it doesn't always work so well. Phlegm does gather a bit sometimes. He can swallow food and drink quite well, albeit fork-washable. Unfortunately he 'crashes' every couple of months and the medics are yet to figure out what causes that, he just shuts down for a few minutes - if he has saliva in his mouth at that time, it's not great. He in his 90s.

First time he 'shut down' we thought that was it, he was a goner, but when we called the paramedics out they ran all the tests and nothing showed up. When he lay flat on the bed, he remedied himself.

Thanks for the link! Will look at it.

What is 'fork-washable' food??? Has he had a speech path to assess his swallow function and see whether a thickened diet might be easier?

What do you mean by 'crashes/shuts down'? Do you mean he goes unconscious, faints, heart stops or something else? What brings him around again? How long does it last? I assume they aren't diabetic? Do they have any type of dementia?

Sorry, that meant to read 'fork-mashable' but autocorrect changed it! His eating is fine, as is his cups of tea.

By 'crashing' - he's in a wheelchair anyway, he doesn't stop breathing or his heart stops, but his head lolls and he is unresponsive until laid down flat in bed, then he sleeps it off. After that, he is back to normal. He does have a bit of dementia, can't lie, but nobody seems to know what causes the 'crashing', the last time it happened he was in hospital for two nights albeit because of the saliva problem that occurred.

Has he had an EEG done to see if the crashing is actually a form of epilepsy?

My dad had MND. His suction machine was provided by the NHS after consultation with the speech pathway team. Slightly different because he was rapidly losing the ability to swallow so ended up being tube fed (different team for that) - but I imagine getting access to the machines for a medical need would be a similar pathway.

Speak to your dad's GP about a referral. Aspiration because he can't clear salvia is a risk worthy of follow up from a medical perspective.

If he needs one, you need to ask his doctor to organise one. The 'crashing' sounds like TIAs, in his 90s, it probably is not worth the stress of the investigations for this.

+1 for getting advice from the speech and language therapists about the saliva and swallowing. When my Dad went into fork-mashable my Mum got very het up trying to get a suction machine. The SALT explained that they don’t recommend it as you can do more harm than good if you don’t know what you’re doing. I think they advised to just not worry about it, and wipe away any excess. But your situation sounds a bit different and I think you should get some proper advice about what’s safest for your dad

Would suggest it’s not only the initial purchase of a machine but also the need for ongoing suction tubing and the components that suction from the mouth. If these are regularly replaced they are a massive infection risk. Probably worth seeking some medical support to see if it is a viable option and how to get ongoing support.

My little one's suction comes from the NHS, the local community team keep us supplied with all the tubing, catheters and yankauers that we need. Ours is a LSU, and we have two in case one breaks down. Do you have experience in suctioning? You can do harm if you get it wrong.

If he needs a suction machine it should be provided on the NHS, although for what you are describing it doesn't sound as if it is the answer.

Suctioning is only done really for people who are struggling to swallow their saliva most of the time - you wouldn't do it at the back of the throat to get up phlegm or deal with acid reflux. Suctioning is a very unpleasant thing to have done and a fair number of patients decline it.

It's not just the machine, it's the training in how to use it, on going supplies and ensuring it is really the right thing to do.