P030 Effects of bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on post-stroke dysphagia

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of high-frequency rTMS over bilateral mylohyoid motor cortices on dysphagia during subacute stroke. Methods This study was a single-blind, randomized controlled study with a blinded observer. Thirty-five stroke patients were allocated to three interventions by randomized order. For the bilateral stimulation group, 500 pulses of 10 Hz rTMS over ipsilesional and the same amount of 10 Hz rTMS over contralesional mylohyoid motor cortices were administered daily for 2 consecutive weeks. For the unilateral stimulation group, 500 pulses of 10 Hz rTMS over ipsilesional mylohyoid motor cortices and 500 pulses of sham rTMS over contralesional mylohyoid motor cortices were applied. For the sham stimulation group, the same pulses of sham rTMS were applied over bilateral mylohyoid motor cortices. Clinical swallowing function and videofluoroscopic swallowing study was assessed before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 weeks after the intervention using Clinical Dysphagia Scale (CDS), Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale (DOSS), Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS), and Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (VDS). Results There were significant time and intervention interaction effects in CDS, DOSS, PAS, and VDS scores ( p p p Conclusions This research result provided meaningful evidence that 10 Hz rTMS over bilateral mylohyoid motor cortices is effective on improvement of post-stroke dysphagia. Therefore, 10 Hz rTMS over bilateral mylohyoid motor cortices can be utilized as an additional treatment strategy with traditional dysphagia therapy.