• Young Hyun Ahn, Hyun-Joo Sohn, Jin-Sung Park, Tae Gyu Ahn, Yong Beom Shin, Minsu Park, Sung-Hwa Ko, and Yong-Il Shin.
• Department of Rehabilitation, Medicine, Medwill Hospital, South Korea.
• J Rehabil Med. 2017 Jan 19; 49 (1): 30-35.

ObjectiveTo investigate whether bihemispheric anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with conventional dysphagia therapy could improve swallowing function in chronic stroke patients with dysphagia.DesignRandomized controlled trial.SubjectsTwenty-six patients with dysphagia for at least 6 months post-stroke were randomly assigned into: (i) bihemispheric anodal tDCS group; or (ii) sham group.MethodsAll patients underwent 10 tDCS sessions with simultaneous conventional swallowing therapy for 2 weeks. Both anodal electrodes were attached bilaterally to the pharyngeal motor cortices, and cathodal electrodes were attached to both supraorbital regions. Swallowing function was evaluated with the Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale (DOSS) before and immediately after the last intervention session.ResultsThe bihemispheric anodal tDCS group showed a mean significant improvement 0.62 points; standard deviation (SD) 0.77, in the DOSS immediately after all sessions (p = 0.02). However, there was no mean significant improvement in the sham group (0.38 points; SD 0.65(p = 0.06)). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups (p = 0.48).ConclusionThe bihemispheric anodal tDCS with conventional dysphagia therapy had additional helpful effects on the improvement in swallowing function in chronic stroke patients.

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