OBJECTIVES VitalStim therapy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2001 for the treatment of dysphagia through the application of neuromuscular electrical stimulation to cervical swallowing muscles. This approval was based upon submission of data on more than 800 patients who received this therapy collected by the principal developer and patent-holder of the device. The therapy...

Background. Dysphagia is a common complication in patients with stroke. The research on acupuncture treatment of dysphagia has increased, but the results are not consistent. In this review we intend to answer “what is the potential of acupuncture in treating dysphagia in stroke patients and which acupuncture points are the most promising for treating dysphagia?” Methods. This systematic review...

The effectiveness of head and neck cancer HNC treatments has increased tumour survival, response, loco-regional control. Treatment escalation does, however, also result in late early toxicities. One underrated symptom patients is dysphagia. Aspiration, dehydration, pneumonia, malnutrition can all from swallowing difficulties. About one-third individuals with dysphagia required therapy for pneum...

Swallowing dysfunction is common after stroke. More than 50% of the 665 thousand stroke survivors will experience dysphagia acutely of which approximately 80 thousand will experience persistent dysphagia at 6 months. The physiologic impairments that result in post-stroke dysphagia are varied. This review focuses primarily on well-established dysphagia treatments in the context of the physiologi...

conclusions a significant number of patients would benefit from surgical therapy to treat their gerd symptoms, but some incorrect beliefs still misguide the indications for the surgical procedure. results our review showed that: (a) the mortality rate of the surgical procedure is negligible and ppi therapy is also accompanied with mortality; (b) there is a 5% chance of severe dysphagia after an...

Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, often occurs secondary to conditions such as stroke, head injury or progressive disease, many of which increase in frequency with advancing age. Sarcopenia, the gradual loss of muscle bulk and strength, can place older individuals at greater risk for dysphagia. Data are reported for three older participants in a pilot trial of a tongue-pressure training ther...

BACKGROUND Dysphagia after stroke is associated with increased mortality, higher dependence, and longer hospitalization. Different therapeutic strategies have been introduced to improve swallowing impairment. There are no current studies that compare rehabilitation swallowing therapy (RST) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy (NMES). OBJECTIVE To compare treatment outcomes between...

Esophageal carcinoma has a special place in gastrointestinal carcinomas because it contains two main types, namely, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Carcinoma esophagus patients require some form of palliation because of locally advanced stage or distant metastasis, where it cannot be subjected to curable treatment with surgery and chemoradiation. Many modalities of palliation of dys...

Cervical spine disorders which can cause swallowing difficulties (cervicogenic dysphagia; CD) are: chronic multisegmental/MS dysfunction (dysfunction=functional blockade) of the facet joints, changes in physiological curvature of the cervical spine, degenerative changes (anterior osteophytes, anterior disc herniation, osteochondrosis, osteoarthritis), inflammatory rheumatic diseases, diffuse id...