Comparison of treatment effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal-tactile stimulation on patients with sub-acute dysphagia caused by stroke

• Published in: Journal of Physical Therapy Science Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 1809 - 1812
• Main Authors: Koh, Hyeung Woo, Byeon, Haewon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Society of Physical Therapy Science 2016
• Subjects: Dysphagia; Neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Original; Thermal tactile oral stimulation; Thermal tactile oral stimulation; Dysphagia; Neuromuscular electrical stimulation
• ISSN: 0915-5287; 2187-5626; 2187-5626
• DOI: 10.1589/jpts.28.1809

[Purpose] The effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in the rehabilitation of swallowing remains controversial. This study compared the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation, a traditional swallowing recovery treatment, in patients with sub-acute dysphagia caused by stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Subjects of the present study were 55 patients diagnosed with dysphagia caused by stroke. This study had a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. [Results] Analysis of pre-post values of videofluoroscopic studies of the neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation groups using a paired t-test showed no significant difference between the two groups despite both having decreased mean values of the videofluoroscopic studies after treatment. [Conclusion] This study’s findings show that both neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation significantly enhanced the swallowing function of patients with sub-acute dysphagia.