Electrical stimulation of hyoid muscles in post-stroke dysphagia

• Main Authors: Petr Konecny, Milan Elfmark
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry 2018-03-01
• Series: Biomedical Papers
• Subjects: stroke; dysphagia; electrical stimulation; suprahyoid muscles; videofluoroscopy
• Online Access: https://biomed.papers.upol.cz/artkey/bio-201801-0007_Electrical_stimulation_of_hyoid_muscles_in_post-stroke_dysphagia.php

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate swallowing changes in post-stroke patients with dysphagia after four weeks of suprahyoid muscles electrical stimulation. Methods: This was a prospective randomized study of early stage stroke patients with dysphagia. Electrical stimulation of suprahyoid muscles was given to a group of 54 patients (26 men, average age 70 years) for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Standard orofacial rehabilitation without electrical stimulation was carried out on a control group of 54 patients (31 men, average age 69 years). Swallowing was evaluated at the beginning of the study and at the end, by videofluoroscopy - measuring the time for oral and pharyngeal phases. Results: The difference in duration of oral transit time (OTT) after the therapy between the study group (average: 0.55 ± 0.01) and the control group (average: 0.29 ± 0.03) was statistically significant (P=0.01). Difference in duration of the pharyngeal transit time (PTT) after the therapy between the study group (average: 0.37 ± 0.02) and control group (average: 0.15 ± 0.02) was also statistically significant (P=0.009). Conclusion: Electrical stimulation of suprahyoid muscles significantly reduced the duration of the oral and pharyngeal phases: in the post-stroke patients with dysphagia used in this study. The result is improved swallowing. This is a recently recommended approach and your study confirms its efficacy.