Versatility of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Poststroke Dysphagia

Various techniques and courses of treatment have been researched, proposed, and implemented to evaluate and treat poststroke dysphagia (PSD) which is one of the main medical conditions affecting not only elderly people, as previously assumed, but also in recent years younger populations as well. The effectiveness of therapeutic methods depends mainly on the expertise of an interdisciplinary team of therapists, as well as on the timely application of the treatment. The present review discusses the therapeutic benefits of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients suffering from PSD regardless of the location of the lesion. The use of rTMS directly manipulates cortical brain stimulation to restore neuroplasticity in the affected brain areas. This review presents a synopsis of the available literature on the patient along with a discussion on the effectiveness of rTMS as a safe and easy to use promising technique in the rehabilitation of dysphagic patients. Although the results from the studies so far have been largely positive in that direction, the question still remains whether larger scale and longitudinal studies will be able to corroborate the aspiring future of rTMS. Therefore, research questions to advance further investigation on the application and future of this technique are much in need.