Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke

Background and Purpose: Dysphagia is common after stroke, associated with increased death and dependency, and treatment options are limited. Pharyngeal electric stimulation (PES) is a novel treatment for poststroke dysphagia that has shown promise in 3 pilot randomized controlled trials. Methods: W...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bath, Philip M.W., Scutt, Polly, Love, Jo, Clavé, Pere, Cohen, David, Dziewas, Rainer, Iversen, Helle K., Ledl, Christian, Ragab, Suzanne, Soda, Hassan, Warusevitane, Anushka, Woisard, Virginie, Hamdy, Shaheen
Format: Article
Published: American Heart Association 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35720/
_version_ 1848795146134487040
author Bath, Philip M.W.
Scutt, Polly
Love, Jo
Clavé, Pere
Cohen, David
Dziewas, Rainer
Iversen, Helle K.
Ledl, Christian
Ragab, Suzanne
Soda, Hassan
Warusevitane, Anushka
Woisard, Virginie
Hamdy, Shaheen
author_facet Bath, Philip M.W.
Scutt, Polly
Love, Jo
Clavé, Pere
Cohen, David
Dziewas, Rainer
Iversen, Helle K.
Ledl, Christian
Ragab, Suzanne
Soda, Hassan
Warusevitane, Anushka
Woisard, Virginie
Hamdy, Shaheen
author_sort Bath, Philip M.W.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background and Purpose: Dysphagia is common after stroke, associated with increased death and dependency, and treatment options are limited. Pharyngeal electric stimulation (PES) is a novel treatment for poststroke dysphagia that has shown promise in 3 pilot randomized controlled trials. Methods: We randomly assigned 162 patients with a recent ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and dysphagia, defined as a penetration aspiration score (PAS) of ≥3 on video fluoroscopy, to PES or sham treatment given on 3 consecutive days. The primary outcome was swallowing safety, assessed using the PAS, at 2 weeks. Secondary outcomes included dysphagia severity, function, quality of life, and serious adverse events at 6 and 12 weeks. Results: In randomized patients, the mean age was 74 years, male 58%, ischemic stroke 89%, and PAS 4.8. The mean treatment current was 14.8 (7.9) mA and duration 9.9 (1.2) minutes per session. On the basis of previous data, 45 patients (58.4%) randomized to PES seemed to receive suboptimal stimulation. The PAS at 2 weeks, adjusted for baseline, did not differ between the randomized groups: PES 3.7 (2.0) versus sham 3.6 (1.9), P=0.60. Similarly, the secondary outcomes did not differ, including clinical swallowing and functional outcome. No serious adverse device-related events occurred. Conclusions: In patients with subacute stroke and dysphagia, PES was safe but did not improve dysphagia. Undertreatment of patients receiving PES may have contributed to the neutral result. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN25681641.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:27:27Z
format Article
id nottingham-35720
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:27:27Z
publishDate 2016
publisher American Heart Association
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-357202020-05-04T17:52:25Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35720/ Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke Bath, Philip M.W. Scutt, Polly Love, Jo Clavé, Pere Cohen, David Dziewas, Rainer Iversen, Helle K. Ledl, Christian Ragab, Suzanne Soda, Hassan Warusevitane, Anushka Woisard, Virginie Hamdy, Shaheen Background and Purpose: Dysphagia is common after stroke, associated with increased death and dependency, and treatment options are limited. Pharyngeal electric stimulation (PES) is a novel treatment for poststroke dysphagia that has shown promise in 3 pilot randomized controlled trials. Methods: We randomly assigned 162 patients with a recent ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and dysphagia, defined as a penetration aspiration score (PAS) of ≥3 on video fluoroscopy, to PES or sham treatment given on 3 consecutive days. The primary outcome was swallowing safety, assessed using the PAS, at 2 weeks. Secondary outcomes included dysphagia severity, function, quality of life, and serious adverse events at 6 and 12 weeks. Results: In randomized patients, the mean age was 74 years, male 58%, ischemic stroke 89%, and PAS 4.8. The mean treatment current was 14.8 (7.9) mA and duration 9.9 (1.2) minutes per session. On the basis of previous data, 45 patients (58.4%) randomized to PES seemed to receive suboptimal stimulation. The PAS at 2 weeks, adjusted for baseline, did not differ between the randomized groups: PES 3.7 (2.0) versus sham 3.6 (1.9), P=0.60. Similarly, the secondary outcomes did not differ, including clinical swallowing and functional outcome. No serious adverse device-related events occurred. Conclusions: In patients with subacute stroke and dysphagia, PES was safe but did not improve dysphagia. Undertreatment of patients receiving PES may have contributed to the neutral result. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN25681641. American Heart Association 2016-05-10 Article PeerReviewed Bath, Philip M.W., Scutt, Polly, Love, Jo, Clavé, Pere, Cohen, David, Dziewas, Rainer, Iversen, Helle K., Ledl, Christian, Ragab, Suzanne, Soda, Hassan, Warusevitane, Anushka, Woisard, Virginie and Hamdy, Shaheen (2016) Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke. Stroke, 47 (6). pp. 1562-1570. ISSN 0039-2499 Dysphagia : pharyngeal electrical stimulation ; randomized controlled trial ; stroke http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/47/6/1562.short doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.012455 doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.012455
spellingShingle Dysphagia : pharyngeal electrical stimulation ; randomized controlled trial ; stroke
Bath, Philip M.W.
Scutt, Polly
Love, Jo
Clavé, Pere
Cohen, David
Dziewas, Rainer
Iversen, Helle K.
Ledl, Christian
Ragab, Suzanne
Soda, Hassan
Warusevitane, Anushka
Woisard, Virginie
Hamdy, Shaheen
Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title_full Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title_fullStr Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title_full_unstemmed Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title_short Pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
title_sort pharyngeal electrical stimulation for treatment of dysphagia in subacute stroke
topic Dysphagia : pharyngeal electrical stimulation ; randomized controlled trial ; stroke
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35720/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35720/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35720/