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Review
. 2023 May 25:17:1124064.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1124064. eCollection 2023.

Tongue acupuncture for the treatment of post-stroke dysphagia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Li Li  1 , Fei Xu  2 , Shengping Yang  2 , Peng Kuang  2 , Haoying Ding  2 , Mei Huang  1 , Chunyan Guo  1 , Zishui Yuan  1 , Xiao Xiao  1 , Zuhong Wang  1 , Pengyue Zhang  2
Affiliations
Review

Tongue acupuncture for the treatment of post-stroke dysphagia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Li Li et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objectives: Post-stroke dysphagia is the most common neurological impairment after stroke. The swallowing process is controlled by a network made up of the cerebral cortex, subcortical area, and brainstem structure. The disruption of the swallowing network after stroke leads to dysphagia. The affected swallowing muscles after stroke mainly include the laryngeal muscles (suprahyoid muscle and thyrohyoid muscle) and infrahyoid muscle. These muscles experience kinematic effects and muscle strength weakens, resulting in reduced movement in the swallowing process. Acupuncture can change the excitability of cerebral cortical nerve cells, promote the recovery of neurological function, and enhance neuromuscular excitability, ultimately improving the control of swallowing-related nerves and muscles and promoting swallowing functional recovery. In this meta-analysis, we systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of post-stroke dysphagia.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials of tongue acupuncture therapy for post-stroke dysphagia were searched and selected from seven electronic databases (PubMed, CBM, Cochrane, Embase, CNKI, VPCS, and Wan fang). The Cochrane Collaboration tool was used to conduct methodological quality assessment. Rev. Man 5.4 software was utilized to perform data analysis.

Results: A total of 15 studies with 1,094 patients were included. Meta-analysis Showed that WST score WST score (MD = -0.56, 95% CI (-1.23, 0.12), Z = 1.62, p < 0.00001), SSA score (MD = -1.65, 95% CI (-2.02, -1.28), Z = 8.77, p < 0.00001). These results suggested that the treatment group (tongue acupuncture or tongue acupuncture combined with other therapies) was superior to the control group in reducing WST scores and SSA scores. The clinical efficacy of the tongue acupuncture group was better compared with the control group (MD = 3.83, 95% CI (2.61, 5.62), Z = 6.88, p < 0.00001).

Conclusion: The meta-analysis showed that the total effective rate of patients with dysphagia after stroke in the treatment group (acupuncture, tongue acupuncture, and acupuncture combined with other therapy) was higher than that in the control group. These results indicated that acupuncture, tongue acupuncture, and acupuncture combined with other therapy can improve post-stroke dysphagia.

Keywords: acupuncture therapy; apoplexy; dysphagia after stroke; meta analysis; systematic review; tongue acupuncture.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of study selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias percentile bar graph.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of bias summary graph.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Total effective rate of tongue acupuncture for post-stroke dysphagia.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Sub-water test of tongue acupuncture for post-stroke dysphagia.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Meta-analysis of the swallowing function assessment scale after stroke treated with acupuncture.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Publication bias of clinical efficacy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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