Application of Surface Electromyography in Assessment of Dysphagia after Cricopharyngeal Achalasia / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

Objective:To apply surface electromyography (sEMG) in assessment of swallow function for patients with cricopharyngeal achalasia. Methods:From January, 2015 to December, 2019, 48 patients with dysphagia after ischemic stroke accepted videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS); those with cricopharyngeal achalasia were as observation group (n = 24), and those without cricopharyngeal achalasia were as control group (n = 24). Other 24 healthy subjects were as healthy group. They accepted sEMG at infrahyoid muscles and submental muscles as they were resting, and swallowing nothing (saliva), water, thick fluid and semiliquid food. The root mean square (RMS) of sEMG was recorded. The correlation of RMS and VFSS was anlyzed. Results:The RMS of both muscle groups increased with the difficuty of swallowing in all the groups (F > 77.652, P < 0.001). For every condition, the RMS of both muscle groups was the most in the observation group, and then for the control group and the healthy group (F > 42.505, P < 0.001). The RMS of both muscle groups positively correlated with VFSS score (r > 0.548, P < 0.05). Conclusion:sEMG can be used to quantitatively assess the contraction of submental muscles and infrahyoid muscles in cricopharyngeal achalasia patients after ischemic stroke, which may help to evaluate swallowing function.