Pharyngeal Electrical Stimulation for Neurogenic Dysphagia: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Efficacy, Safety, Cost-Effectiveness, and Implementation
Abstract
Background: Neurogenic dysphagia affects millions of patients with stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological conditions, leading to aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, prolonged hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs. Pharyngeal electrical stimulation (PES), commercially known as Phagenyx, has emerged as a neurostimulation approach for treating neurogenic dysphagia via sensory-driven neuroplasticity mechanisms.
Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, and patient-reported outcomes of PES for treating neurogenic dysphagia across diverse clinical populations and provide comprehensive evidence synthesis for clinical decision-making.
Methods: A comprehensive systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, searching electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) from inception to September 2024. We included randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and economic evaluations investigating PES for neurogenic dysphagia. Two independent reviewers performed study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool.
Results: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias assessment revealed moderate to high concerns due to inadequate blinding and selective outcome reporting issues. Small randomized controlled trials demonstrated improved decannulation rates (75% vs. 20%, p<0.01) and reduced pneumonia events in selected populations,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 162 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Penicillins for Treatment of Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Does In Vitro Resistance Really Matter?
- Thiophenes—Naturally Occurring Plant Metabolites: Biological Activities and In Silico Evaluation of Their Potential as Cathepsin D Inhibitors
- Inhalable Mannosylated Rifampicin–Curcumin Co-Loaded Nanomicelles with Enhanced In Vitro Antimicrobial Efficacy for an Optimized Pulmonary Tuberculosis Therapy
- Development and validation of microbial bioassay for quantification of Levofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations
- GC-MS Analysis and Biomedical Therapy of Oil from n-Hexane Fraction of Scutellaria edelbergii Rech. f.: In Vitro, In Vivo, and In Silico Approach
- Propranolol, chlorpromazine and diclofenac restore susceptibility of extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-Acinetobacter baumannii to fluoroquinolones
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.