Background: A major life-threatening consequence of stroke is dysphagia and swallowing disorders, which can lead to increased risk of morbidity and death rate, due to aspiration, pneumonia and poor nutrition. Physical therapy exercises can help in regaining normal and safe swallowing process, whether these exercises are of compensatory nature or rehabilitative nature.
Objective: This review aims to investigate and discuss the current literature on the effectiveness of physical therapy exercises in post-stroke swallowing disorders.
Methods: A comprehensive search was done at PubMed, PEDro, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Cochrane library databases by using keywords such as bulbar training, dysphagia, swallowing dysfunction, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, in addition to searching the reference lists. Only English articles published from January 2015 to December 2024 were included. Unpublished manuscripts, dissertations, conference abstracts or articles published in non-English language were excluded. Physical therapy exercises included head-lift exercises, tongue strengthening exercises, jaw exercises, respiratory muscle training, chin tuck against resistance exercises, and cervical exercises.
Results: The findings suggest that physical therapy exercises have the potentiality for improving swallowing functions in stroke survivors with dysphagia. However, there is a need for conducting large and rigorous studies to confirm these findings and establish an evidence-based clinical practice guideline.
Conclusion: The review of the current literature indicates that physical therapy exercises hold promise in improving swallowing functions in stroke survivors. Additional high-quality studies are required to inaugurate standardized treatment protocols.