The effect of combining breathing training with electromyographic biofeedback on swallowing ability after cerebral infarction / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe any effect of supplementing breathing training with electromyographic biofeedback in treating the swallowing function soon after a cerebral infarction.Methods:A total of 96 cerebral infarction survivors with dysphagia were randomly divided into a control group, a biofeedback group and a comprehensive treatment group, each of 32. All received conventional rehabilitation treatment for dysphagia, while the biofeedback group was additionally provided with EMG biofeedback training and the comprehensive treatment group received both breathing training and the biofeedback training. Before and after 6 weeks of treatment, all were subjected to a swallowing contrast examination to observe the opening of the upper esophageal sphincter, the forward displacement of the hyoid bone, and the upward displacement of the hyoid bone. The Rosenbak Penetration-Aspiration Scale and Functional Imported Food Scoring were also used to evaluate their swallowing function.Results:Before, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of any of the measures. After the 6 weeks of treatment, all of the measurements had improved significantly in both groups, but the improvement in the biofeedback and comprehensive treatment groups on all of the measures was significantly greater than in the control group. The average values of the comprehensive treatment group were then superior to the biofeedback group′s averages.Conclusion:Supplementing breathing training with EMG biofeedback can significantly improve the swallowing function of stroke survivors and reduce their risk of aspiration.