Effect of the combination of Mendelsohn maneuver and effortful swallowing on aspiration in patients with dysphagia after stroke.
Ji-Hoon Kim, Young-A Kim, Hye-Jin Lee and 4 others
PMID 29200636WHAT IT FOUND
Four stroke patients had less aspiration on swallowing study after doing the Mendelsohn maneuver and effortful swallowing together.
With no control group, this cannot show which part helped or that the combination caused the change.
Key findings
01Four patients with dysphagia after stroke completed 20 sessions of combined swallowing exercises.
02After the sessions, each participant had lower penetration-aspiration scores for liquid and semi-solid foods.
03The study had no control group and no follow-up, so it cannot show that the exercises caused the score changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only four patients were studied. There was no control group, so the study cannot compare these exercises with another treatment or with no treatment. Follow-up was not performed, so long-term effect is unknown. Both exercises were given together, so the contribution of either one cannot be separated. Patients had to be able to perform the maneuver and have no communication difficulty, so results may not apply to more impaired stroke patients. One physician interpreted the swallowing scores, and the supplied text does not describe blinding.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that combining these exercises treats aspiration after stroke. Four patients had lower scores, but there was no control group, no follow-up, and the two exercises were given together, so the study cannot show which part helped or that the change was caused by treatment.