Therapeutic effects of deep pharyngeal electrical stimulation combined with modified masako maneuver on aspiration in patients with stroke.

Abstract

Stroke patients often experience difficulty swallowing. To assist in the improvement of dysphagia symptoms by introducing a novel approach to the treatment of patients with post-stroke aspiration. A total of 60 patients with post-stroke aspiration were enrolled and divided into an experimental group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). The control group received standard treatment, sham intraoral stimulation, and the Masako maneuver, while the experimental group was administered standard treatment, deep pharyngeal electrical stimulation (DPES), and a modified Masako maneuver. Changes in their Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) and Rosenbek scale scores were observed. The FOIS scores of both groups increased significantly after treatment (p < 0.01, respectively). The Rosenbek scale scores of both groups decreased significantly after treatment, with the experimental group scoring significantly lower than the control group (1.01±0.09 vs. 2.30±0.82) (p < 0.05). After treatment, the overall response rate in the experimental group (93.33%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (83.33%) (p < 0.001). In terms of effectively improving dysphagia in aspiration patients after stroke, DPES combined with modified Masako maneuver is clinically recommended.