Effects of bilateral cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in poststroke dysphagia: A randomized sham-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Although increasing evidence indicates that cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be beneficial in the treatment of dysphagia, its clinical efficacy is still uncertain.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of high-frequency cerebellar rTMS on poststroke dysphagia.

METHODS: This was a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind trial. A total of eighty-four study participants were randomly assigned into the cerebellum and control groups. The cerebellum group received bilateral 10 Hz rTMS treatment of the pharyngeal motor area of the cerebellum. The control group was administered with sham rTMS of the pharyngeal motor area of the cerebellum. All patients underwent the same conventional swallowing rehabilitation training after the intervention 5 days a week for a total of 10 days. Assessment of swallowing function was done before treatment (baseline), after treatment (2 weeks), and during follow-up (2 weeks after treatment) using the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Dysphagia Severity Scale (FEDSS) and the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS).

RESULTS: The interaction between time and intervention had a significant effect on PAS (P <  0.001) and FEDSS (P <  0.001). Compared to the control group, the cerebellum group exhibited significantly improved clinical swallowing function scores (PAS: P = 0.007, FEDSS: P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION: Bilateral cerebellar rTMS is a potential new neurorehabilitation technique for post-stroke dysphagia. Studies should aim at investigating the therapeutic mechanism of cerebellar rTMS and improve this technique.