VitalStim and Swallowing Therapy

NAPA Center is now offering VitalStim® (hereon referred to as VitalStim) services by a certified VitalStim practitioner.  VitalStim Therapy is an effective treatment for patients suffering with difficulty swallowing or dysphagia.   VitalStim may be used with infants and adults a like suffering from a broad range of diagnosis.  It was developed in response to the 15 million Americans living with dysphagia today.

VitalStim Therapy is a non-invasive, external electrical stimulation therapy cleared to market by the FDA in December 2002. The therapy uses specifically designed electrodes applied to the muscles of the throat to promote proper swallowing. No other NMES therapy carries FDA clearance for the treatment of dysphagia. An enhanced dysphagia treatment program for feeding, swallowing, and speech. Our state of the art equipment incorporating Neuromuscular Electric Stimulation (NMES) with 3 different wave forms, surface electromyography (sEMG) biofeedback and sEMG triggered

VitalStim Therapy is designed to complement swallowing exercises and treatments as an adjunct modality.  For example, a certified practitioner may apply VitalStim Therapy while simultaneously working with the patient on a swallowing exercise concomitant with head and neck postural control.  As one can imagine, the combination of these techniques has a strong possibility to yield powerful results.  Used as an adjunct to traditional swallowing therapy, VitalStim has been found to:

• Be safe and effective for patients
• Accelerate the recovery time from a restricted diet
• Help patients achieve sustained improvement and long term results
• Increased possibilities of avoiding or being weened from G-tube or N-tube

To be more specific, the long-term effects of VitalStim Therapy was demonstrated in a 3 year follow-up study submitted that showed improved swallowing function was maintained (FDA clearance notice, 2001).  Another published study demonstrated the lasting positive impact of VitalStim Therapy in a group of patients for whom previous attempts at dysphagia therapy had failed (Freed, 2001; Carnaby-Mann, 2007).

If you have any questions regarding VitalStim Therapy or require further objective data, please contact NAPA Center.

Appendix

Carnaby-Mann, 2007: Meta-analysis of treatment literature on use of ES for dysphagia (Carnaby-Mann and Crary 2007) 

Freed, 2001: Electrical stimulation vs. thermal stimulation for dysphagia after stroke (Freed et al. 2001) 

VitalStim® Therapy. www.vitalstim.com (2010)