https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40387911
Summary –
This pilot randomized controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of a device called IQoro, which is used for oral neuromuscular training, on patients with severe acquired brain injury who had a tracheostomy tube. The study compared the IQoro training group with a usual care group.
Here are the key findings:
- Participants: The study included 22 patients, with 11 in the IQoro group and 11 in the usual care group (p. 1).
- Primary Outcome: The IQoro group showed a tendency for fewer days until the tracheostomy tube could be removed, but this result was not statistically significant (pp. 1, 4).
- Swallowing Function: The usual care group showed statistically significant improvements in swallowing function on all scales used, while the IQoro group only showed significant improvement on one of the scales (p. 1).
- Pharyngeal Residue: The usual care group had greater improvements in reducing pharyngeal residue (food or liquid left in the throat after swallowing) compared to the IQoro group. This result was statistically significant (pp. 1, 3, 5). The authors note that this could be a chance finding due to the small number of participants (p. 5).
- Conclusion: The study found that four weeks of training with IQoro as an addition to usual care was not superior to usual care alone for improving swallowing function and reducing the time to remove a tracheostomy tube in this specific patient group (p. 8). The results even suggested a potentially harmful effect of IQoro on pharyngeal residue, but this needs to be replicated in future studies (pp. 5, 8).
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