Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep 20;16(11):1447-1452.
doi: 10.7150/ijms.34850. eCollection 2019.

Can muscle vibration be the future in the treatment of cerebral palsy-related drooling? A feasibility study

Emanuele F Russo  1 , Rocco S Calabrò  2 , Patrizio Sale  3 , Filomena Vergura  1 , Maria C De Cola  1 , Angela Militi  4 , Placido Bramanti  2 , Simona Portaro  2 , Serena Filoni  1
Affiliations

Can muscle vibration be the future in the treatment of cerebral palsy-related drooling? A feasibility study

Emanuele F Russo et al. Int J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Drooling is an involuntary loss of saliva from the mouth, and it is a common problem for children with cerebral palsy (CP). The treatment may be pharmacological, surgical, or speech-related. Repeated Muscle Vibration (rMV) is a proprioceptive impulse that activates fibers Ia reaching the somatosensory and motor cortex. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of rMV in the treatment of drooling in CP. Design, setting and population: This was a rater blinded prospective feasibility study, performed at the "Gli Angeli di Padre Pio" Foundation, Rehabilitation Centers (Foggia, Italy), involving twenty-two CP patients affected by drooling (aged 5-15, mean 9,28 ± 3,62). Children were evaluated at baseline (T0), 10 days (T1), 1 month (T2) and 3 months (T3) after the treatment. Methods: The degree and impact of drooling was assessed by using the Drooling Impact Scale (DIS), the Drooling Frequency and Severity Scale (DFSS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Drooling Quotient (DQ). An rMV stimulus under the chin symphysis was applied with a 30 min protocol for 3 consecutive days. Results: The statistical analysis shows that DIS, DFSS, VAS, DQ improved with significant differences in the multiple comparisons between T1 vs T2, T1 vs T3 and T1 vs T4 (p≤0.001). Conclusion This study demonstrates that rMV might be a safe and effective tool in reducing drooling in patients with CP. The vibrations can improve the swallowing mechanisms and favor the acquisition of the maturity of the oral motor control in children with CP.

Keywords: Muscle vibration; developmental disorders; neurorehabilitation; sialorrhea..

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
shows the transducer position during drooling treatment in a patient with cerebral palsy.
Fig 2
Fig 2
shows the box plot diagram for a) DQREST, b) DQACT, c) DIS, d) DFSS and e) VAS. * Wilcoxon signed rank test (Holm- Bonferroni sequential correction)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lee RW, Poretti A, Cohen JS. et al. A diagnostic approach for cerebral palsy in the genomic era. Neuromolecular Med. 2014;16(4):821–844. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rosenbaum P, Paneth N, Leviton A. et al. A report: the definition and classification of cerebral palsy April 2006. Dev Med Child Neurol Suppl. 2007;109:8–14. - PubMed
    1. Bouchoucha M, Callais F, Renard P, Ekindjian OG, Cugnenc PH, Barbier JP. Relationship between acid neutralization capacity of saliva and gastro-oesophageal reflux. Arch Physiol Biochem. 1997;105(1):19–26. - PubMed
    1. Bavikatte G, Sit PL, Hassoon A. Management of drooling of saliva. Br J Med Pract; 2012. p. 5. (1)
    1. Blasco P. Prevalence and predictors of drooling. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012;54(11):970. - PubMed