Neurostimulation in People With Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials-Part I: Pharyngeal and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Speyer, R., Sutt, A. L., et al. (2022).
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(3), 776.
This systematic review and meta-analysis explore the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or pharyngeal electrical stimulation (PES) in individuals with oropharyngeal dysphagia of various etiologies (e.g., head and neck cancer, stroke).
No funding received
From database inception to March 6, 2021
Randomized controlled trials
42
<div>NMES had a significant, large treatment effect on swallowing function in individuals with oropharyngeal dysphagia (ES = 1.27) across 11 studies. Limitations to this review include significant heterogeneity between studies, small sample sizes, and risk of bias of included studies. Therefore, findings should be interpreted with caution.</div>
<div>Findings demonstrated significant, moderate treatment effects for swallowing function following PES in individuals with oropharyngeal dysphagia. All studies included participants with dysphagia secondary to stroke. Between-group analyses comparing PES to other active treatment groups demonstrated a non-significant, positive effect for PES. Due to the small number of studies of varying methodological quality, further research is warranted.</div>
<div>Only two studies were found investigating NMES in individuals with head and neck cancer. No significant differences were found for swallowing function. Given the small number of studies and participants, further research is warranted.</div>
