Study Shows Swallowing Disorders Affecting 15 Million Americans Improve Significantly with Innovative Electrical Stimulation Treatment

New Peer Review Study Focuses on VitalStim® Therapy “Novel Application”

Hixson, TN, January 11, 2007 – Chattanooga Group, a division of Encore Medical Corporation, reported today that a second peer review article in as many months shows that neuromuscular electrical stimulation is a valuable addition to existing therapies in the treatment of dysphagia, a swallowing disorder affecting 15 million Americans. 

The article, published in the journal Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, January 2007, based its findings on a research study in which all patients in the study underwent treatment by VitalStim® Therapy, an electrical stimulation device that allows a small electric current to pass through external electrodes on the neck in order to re-educate the muscles around the throat to restore swallowing function.

Dr. Gary Y. Shaw, MD, FACS, Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience, Kansas City, MO, and Medical Director Voice and Swallowing Care Center, Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO., presented the article at the American Bronchoesophagology Association Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting, Chicago, IL, May 19-20, 2006.

The article, titled “Transcutaneous Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (VitalStim®) Curative Therapy for Severe Dysphagia: Myth or Reality?,” reports the clinical study found “those with a near functional swallow improved to normal.  Those with limitations on their swallowing requiring compensatory maneuvers, improved significantly. The most impressive improvement, however, was in those subjects who required enteral [tube] feeding but were still able to swallow small amounts of certain consistencies.  In this group six of the seven subjects were able to discontinue enteral feeding.”

The authors conclude “VitalStim® Therapy is clearly a significant improvement over existing therapies in the treatment of dysphagia and is an important addition to the armamentarium of the swallowing therapist.”  However, they add that the most severely afflicted are unlikely to gain dramatic improvement, suggesting larger clinical studies would be a clearer determinant of which patients will most likely succeed with this technique.

“This study by Dr. Shaw further validates the successes in treating dysphagia with VitalStim as reported by the thousands of certified VitalStim practitioners around the country.  We expect additional peer review studies to report similar findings this year thus further establishing VitalStim® Therapy as the standard of care in dysphagia treatment,” said Yorick Wijting, PT, Director of Clinical and Medical Research, Chattanooga Group, developers and manufacturers of VitalStim® Therapy.

 

Other members of the research team included Phillip Sechtem, MS, CCC-SLP and Kristina Keller, MS, CCC-SLP, Voice and Swallowing Care Center, Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO; Jeff Searl, PhD, CCC-SLP, Associate Professor, Department Speech and Hearing Department, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS; Taib A. Rawi, BS, MBA, MS III, and Emily Dowdy, BA, MSIV, Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience, Kansas City, MO.

Although little known, dysphagia often has devastating consequences.  According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), each year over 60,000 Americans die from complications associated with swallowing dysfunction, most commonly aspiration pneumonia.  More people die annually from complications associated with swallowing disorders than from liver, kidney disease and HIV-AIDS combined.

VitalStim® Therapy is the only electrical stimulation device cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use on throat muscles in the treatment of dysphagia.  To date, VitalStim has been administered with no reported adverse effects to over 100,000 patients by over 6,000 VitalStim-trained and certified therapists around the country.

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Contacts:
Chattanooga Group
Lee Laino   212-879-1814
Ed Dunlay  423-504-6939