ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of early neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) combined with sour taste therapy on dysphagia in the oral phase of acute/subacute ischemic stroke patients. Methods From January, 2013 to June, 2015, 90 patients with oral phase dysphagia after stroke were randomly assigned into NMES group (NM group), sour taste group (ST group ) and NMES combined with sour taste group (TO group) with 30 patients in each group. The swallowing function was evaluated with Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) at baseline, three weeks and twelve weeks treatment. Results The change of FOIS was better in TO group than in ST group three weeks after treatment (P<0.01), and was better in TO group than in ST group and NM group twelve weeks after treatment (P<0.05). Conclu-sion An early application of NMES combined with sour taste therapy could improve the swallowing coordination, and reduce the the poten-tial complications in oral phase of acute/subacute ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia.
