BION Treatment of Dysphagia After Radical Head-Neck Surgery

"The second group will have a High Stimulation paradigm at a frequency that produces strong, fused contractions (20-30pps) for a total of 1h/d, also in two spaced sessions. Stimulation intensity will be adjusted to produce the strongest contractions that are tolerated."

"The first group will have a stimulation paradigm employing low-frequency (1-5 pps), supramaximal twitch stimulation. The period of the stimulation will probably be short for the first sessions as the muscles gain strength and fatigue resistance, but will eventually be 60 minutes per day in two spaced sessions of about 30 minutes each."

A third group of experimental subjects will have a standardized program of voluntary swallowing exercises. Their BIONs will not be activated until they have worsening of dysphagia, and thus are considered to have failed conventional therapy.