Speech and language therapy for aphasia following subacute stroke

The aim of this study was to investigate the time window, duration and intensity of optimal speech and language therapy applied to aphasic patients with subacute stroke in our hospital. The study consisted of 33 patients being hospitalized for stroke rehabilitation in our hospital with first stroke but without previous history of speech and language therapy. Sixteen sessions of impairment-based speech and language therapy were applied to the patients, 30-60 minutes per day, 2 days a week, for 8 successive weeks. Aphasia assess- ment in stroke patients was performed with Giilhane Aphasia Test-2 before and after treatment. Compared with before treatment, fluency of speech, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral motor evaluation, automatic speech, repetition and naming were improved after treatment. This suggests that 16 seesions of speech and language therapy, 30-60 minutes per day, 2 days a week, for 8 successive weeks, are effective in the treatment of aphasic patients with subacute stroke.

Efficacy of acupuncture as an adjuvant to speech and language therapy for aphasia after ischemic stroke:a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Aphasia is one of the common complications of stroke.Speech and language therapy is a conventional treatment for aphasia following stroke.However,rehabilitation often remains unsatisfactory after speech and language therapy alone.Acupuncture may be effective for aphasia after stroke.We designed this systematic review to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an adjunct to speech and language therapy for aphasia following ischemic stroke.Methods:An extensive search will be performed in databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,PubMed,Web of Science,EMBASE,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Sinomed,Wei Pu Date and Wan Fang Data.No limitation will be set in language,publication date or status of the study.The primary outcomes include scores of Western Aphasia Battery and Aphasia Quotient.The secondary outcomes include Scales of Clinical Rehabilitation Research Center Aphasia Examination,Communicative Abilities in Daily Living,Aphasia Battery of Chinese,Chinese Functional Communication Profile,adverse reactions,etc.Results:All of the data will be processed with Review Manager software.Cochrane‘risk of bias’tool will be used to assess the risk of bias.Conclusion:This study will contribute to the selection of appropriate therapies for aphasia after ischemic stroke and the development of clinical guidelines on this topic.

Combining electroacupuncture and transcranial direct current stimulation as an adjuvant therapy enhances spontaneous conversation and naming in subacute vascular aphasia:A retrospective analysis

Objective:Emerging evidence shows the effectiveness of speech and language therapy(SLT);however,precise therapeutic parameters remain unclear.Evidence for the use of adjunctive transcranial direct current stimulation(t DCS)to treat post-stroke aphasia(PSA)is promising;however,the utility of combining t DCS and electroacupuncture(EA)has not yet been analyzed.This study assessed the therapeutic consequences of EA and t DCS coupled with SLT in subacute PSA patients who were also undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy(HBOT).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on subacute(<6 months)PSA patients who were divided into three groups:patients who received EA plus t DCS(acupuncture group),patients who underwent t DCS(t DCS group),and patients who experienced conventional therapy(HBOT+SLT).All subjects underwent 21 days of treatment and also received conventional treatment.The aphasia battery of Chinese(ABC)was used to score pre-and post-intervention status.Results:The analysis comprised 238 patients.Cerebral infarction was the most frequent stroke type(137[57.6%]),while motor(66[27.7%])and global aphasia(60[25.2%])were the most common types of aphasia.After 21 days of intervention,the ABC scores of all patients were improved.The acupuncture group had the highest ABC scores,but only repetition,naming,and spontaneous speech were statistically improved(P<0.01).Post-hoc tests revealed significant improvement in word retrieval in the acupuncture and t DCS groups(P<0.01,P=0.037),while the acupuncture group had additional significant improvement in spontaneous conversation(P<0.01).Conclusion:Combining acupuncture and t DCS as an adjuvant therapy for subacute PSA led to significant spontaneous speech and word retrieval improvements.Future prospective,multi-ethnic,multi-center trials are warranted.