The brainstem is the life center of the body, and if a patient with a brain infarction has a brainstem infarction, even a small infarct focus may present with more severe clinical signs and symptoms. Patients may experience dizziness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, choking and coughing on drinking water, or weakness of both lower limbs or weakness of all four limbs. In severe cases, patients can develop impaired consciousness, such as drowsiness, lethargy or coma, which can further cause tetraplegia and bulbar palsy; it can also cause cerebral edema and increased intracranial pressure, which can further lead to brain herniation and cause death of the patient. If the patient has swallowing dysfunction, it can cause aspiration pneumonia, which can cause aspiration and lead to the patient’s death. For patients who have difficulty in recovering from swallowing dysfunction in a short period of time, they should be given a lower gastric tube, a retained gastric tube, and a nasal diet in order to prevent aspiration from asphyxiation and prevent aspiration pneumonia.