Effects of low frequency pulsed electrical stimulation on tongue muscles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effect of low frequency electric stimulation on tongue muscles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after radiation therapy.Methods Forty-three nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with dysphagia after radiation therapy were randomly divided into a control group of 21 and a test group of 22.The control group received low frequency electric stimulation on external tongue muscles for 15 minutes a day while the test group received low frequency electric stimulation on external tongue muscles for 20 minutes a day,5 days a week for 4 weeks.Before and after the treatment,the range of motion of tongues was evaluated.Results Before the treatment,there was no significant difference between the two groups in all the measurements (P＞0.05).After the treatment,the protraction of the tongue improved significantly in both groups,with a significantly more improvement in the test group than in the control group.Significant improvement was observed in the side-to-side movement of the tongue in the test group,but not in the control group after the treatment.However,no significant improvement was observed in the up-and-down motion of the tongue in both groups after the treatment (P＞0.05).Conclusion Low frequency electric stimulation on internal and external tongue muscles can improve the protractive and side-to-side motion of the tongue in NPC patients after radiotherapy.