Swallowing training combined with acupuncture for treating chronic neurogenic dysphagia

Objective To study the effect of swallowing training combined with acupuncture on patients with dysphagia more than one month after stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods 61 patients with dysphagia meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into a control group (31 cases) and a treatment group (30 cases). Both groups were subdivided according to the course of disease-1 ～ 2 months or ＞ 2 months. The patients in the control group received only swallowing training, 30 min per day, 5 times a week for 9 weeks. The patients in the treatment group were treated with the same swallowing training as the control group, additionally combined with acupuncture at the acupoints around the neck, including Lianquan (Ren23), Jinjin (EX-HN12), Yuye (EX-HNI3),Fengchi (GB20) , Yifeng (SJ17) and Wangu (GB12). Acupuncture was performed 5 times a week, 30 min per session for 8-week courses with a week's break between them. Results Both groups and their sub-groups demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvements in swallowing function. Scores in the 2 treatment subgroups showed more improvement than in the control group. There was, however, no significant difference between the 2 treated subgroups in either their post-treatment or pre-treatment swallowing function scores. The cure rate in the treatment group was significantly higher than in the control group, but there was no significant difference in the total effectiveness rate between the two groups. Conclusion Swallowing training alone or combined with acupuncture can improve the swallowing of patients with chronic neurogenic dysphagia. The combination therapy was more effective. The improvement was not related with the course of the disease. Key words: Stroke;  Traumatic brain injury;  Dysphagia;  Acupuncture