Effects of speech valve combined with basic swallowing training on aspiration of dysphagia patients after tracheostomy for severe traumatic brain injury / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness of basic swallowing training for tracheotomy patients using a speech valve after severe cranial injury.Methods:Thirty brain injury patients were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, each of 15. In addition to conventional drug therapy, those in the control group were given basic swallowing training, while those in the observation group received the same swallowing training wearing a speech valve. The basic swallowing training included ice stimulation, tongue movement training and cough training twice a day, five days a week, for four weeks. The patients in the observation group were also trained to wear a speech valve on the same schedule. The subjects′ swallowing function was evaluated laryngoscopically using Saito′s dysphagia rating scale and the Rosenbek leakage aspiration rating scale before and after the 4 weeks of treatment.Results:Significant improvement was observed in both groups, with significantly greater improvement in the observation group, on average.Conclusions:Basic swallowing training when wearing a speech valve can improve the swallowing function of patients with severe brain injury after a tracheotomy and reduce aspiration during swallowing.