Exploration of treatment methods for patients with post-stroke dysphagia: a network meta-analysis

To compare the effects of various therapies in patients with post-stroke dysphagia. Data sources: We searched databases between January 1980 and 2022. Study eligibility criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on therapy for dysphagia after stroke.Study appraisal and synthesis methods: The outcomes were improvement in dysphagia, case fatality, and chest infection or pneumonia, reported as OR (odd ratio), 95% CrI (confidence interval), and SUCRA (the surface under the cumulative ranking curve analysis) score. Forty-two randomized controlled trials (2,993 patients, seven therapies, and one control) were included. In the improvement of dysphagia analysis, the following therapies were superior to the control: Acupuncture, behavioral interventions, drug therapy, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and pharyngeal electrical stimulation (PES). In the case fatality analysis, OR and 95% CrI indicated none of the therapies were superior to the control. In the chest infection or pneumonia analysis, OR values showed that no therapy was superior to the control. Our Network Meta-analysis suggests that commonly used therapies for dysphagia after stroke have equal efficacies.