Pharyngeal Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Post-extubation Dysphagia in Acute Stroke

Pharyngeal electrical stimulation via an intraluminal catheter (Phagenesis Ltd.) once daily for 10 minutes on three consecutive days. The intensity of the electrical stimulation is determined following the calculation of suitable sensory threshold, tailored to the individual patients. After determining the optimal stimulation intensity, 10 minutes of stimulation are delivered.

The intraluminal catheter (Phagenesis Ltd.) for pharyngeal electrical stimulation is placed. In the sham group the optimisation procedure was imitated as closely as possible to mitigate any bias or effect of time spent interacting with the patient during PES, but no current was applied. After this procedure 10 min of sham stimulation were delivered.