Effect of bilateral cerebellar rTMS on swallowing function and swallowing phase in patients with dysphagia after...

To observe the effect of bilateral cerebellar high-frequency rTMS on swallowing function and swallowing phase in patients with PSD.

42 patients with PSD were randomly divided into bilateral cerebellar stimulation group and sham group (stimulating coil and scalp at a 90° angle). The rTMS stimulation parameters are 10 Hz,120% rMT, with 9 s intervals and 1 s stimulus, totaling 500 pulses. Before and after 3-week treatment, the MEPs amplitude of the suprahyoid muscles of the bilateral cerebral cortex was recorded as an index to quantify the excitability of the cerebral swallowing cortex. The VFSS was carried out for all patients before and after 3-week treatment, assessing the severity of dysphagia with FDS, assessing the risk of leakage and aspiration with PAS, and recording the swallowing phase.

40 patients were finally included for statistical analysis. After three weeks treatment, PAS and FDS scores improved, and the oral transit time (OTT) and Swallowing Reaction Time (SRT) were shorter in both groups. These indexes changed more significantly in the cerebellar stimulation group than the sham group. The MEP amplitudes of the cerebral swallowing cortex increased bilaterally, and the MEP amplitude of the contralateral cerebral swallowing cortex increased more significantly in the cerebellar stimulation group than that in the sham group.

To patients with PSD, bilateral cerebellar high-frequency rTMS can improve the swallowing function, increased the excitability of the contralesional cerebral swallowing cortex and shorten OTT and SRT.

Cerebellar rTMS may improve swallowing performance by regulating motor control.