Swallowing Exercise for a patient of Anoxic Encephalopathy with Dysphagia following Dystonia

Abstract

We used a swallowing exercise to treat an 18-year-old male who had severe dysphagia following dystonia． The patient had anoxic encephalopathy at 8 years of age when he received treatment for Guillain-Barre Syndrome．Until he had dystonia he was able to make a daily living by himself by riding in a wheel chair． The main programs of the swallowing exercise were relaxation and thermal stimulation．Before the exercise he was fed some pureed food． Afterwards， he was able to take a highly chopped meal． We discussed the process of the improvement of his dysphagia． We supposed that his dysphagia was caused by secondary bulbar degeneration after anoxic encephalopathy，and activation of the central pattern generator（swallowing center）was very important for this improvement．