| Objective: To study the effect of balloon dilation on the recovery of dysphagia and adverse complications in patients with dysphagia after stroke. Methods: Fifty patients who were diagnosed as having dysphagia after stroke were randomly divided into control group and observation group, 25 cases in each group. The control group and observation group received the routine dysphagia rehabilitation therapy and low-frequency neuromuscular electrical stimulation. The observation group was given balloon dilatation treatment additionally. Two groups were evaluated by the total effective rate of rehabilitation, swallowing function, complication rates, the swallow time, videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and functional oral intake scale (FOIS) before and after treatment. Results: The proportion of intakes of water, liquid food, paste food and solid food in the observation group was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in the observation group was obviously lower than in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the pharyngeal transit time in the observation group was markedly shorter than in the control group(P<0.01), but VFSS and FOIS scores were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). The total effective rate in the observation group was apparently higher than in the control group (96.0% vs.72.0%, P<0.05). Conclusion: Balloon dilatation can obviously improve swallowing function in patients after stroke, shorten the recovery time, and reduce the incidence of complications such as aspiration. |
