Yasunori Ozeki, MD, PhD, Kikuo Ota, MD, PhD, Hitoshi Kagaya, MD, PhD, Mikoto Baba, MD,
PhD, Eiichi Saitoh, MD, PhD, Seiko Shibata, MD, PhD, Takashi Tanaka, MD, Sumiko Okada,
SLP, PhD, Shinya Mikushi, DDS, PhD
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 3: 1-5, 2012
Objective: To investigate the rehabilitation outcomes
of patients with chronic dysphagia due to brainstem
lesions.
Methods: Changes in Dysphagia Severity Scale (DSS)
score, Eating Status Scale (ESS) score, and activities
of daily living (ADL) between hospital admission and
discharge were investigated retrospectively in 34
patients (27 males and 7 females; mean age, 63 years)
with continuous dysphagia for ->3 months due to
brainstem lesions who underwent inpatient
rehabilitation.
Results: DSS scores were unchanged in 6 of the 9
patients with DSS scores of 1 at admission, but
improved in 17 of the 25 patients with DSS scores of 2
or above. No improvement in ESS scores was seen in
8 of the 9 patients with ESS and DSS scores of 1, but
there were improvements in 20 of the 25 patients with
DSS scores of 2 or above.
Conclusion: Improvement was poor in patients with
DSS scores of 1 after 3 months or more. However,
there is a high likelihood of improvement with
intensive rehabilitation in patients with DSS scores of
2 or higher.
Key words: brainstem lesion, cerebrovascular disorder, dysphagia, rehabilitation