Background: Recently, a new method of dysphagia rehabilitation using Kinesio taping (KT) has been attempted and demonstrated an immediate increase in the activation of the suprahyoid muscle during swallowing in healthy adults.
Objectives: To investigate the effect of dysphagia rehabilitation using KT on the thickness change of the suprahyoid muscle in patients with dysphagia after stroke.
Design: Two-group pre-post design.
Methods: In this study, 20 patients with dysphagia after stroke were enrolled and assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group applied KT to the front of the neck and repeatedly swallowed against the tension of the tape. On the other hand, the control group performed repeated swallowing without applying KT. Patients in both groups had swallowed 50 times a day/5 times a week for 4 weeks. For evaluation, the volume of the geniohyoid, mylohyoid, and digastric muscle was measured before and after the intervention using portable ultrasound equipment.
Results: As a result of comparing the two groups after the intervention, the experimental group showed more volume increase in mylohyoid (P<.05) and digastric muscle (P<.05) than the control group.
Conclusion: This study proved that suprahyoid muscle resistance exercise using KT is effective in increasing the volume of the suprahyoid muscle.

INTRODUCTION
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
    Subjects
    Methods
    Outcome Measurement
    Statistical Analysis
RESULTS
    Subjects
    Effect of the suprahyoid muscle
    Reported side effects
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
REfERENCES

• Myunglyeol Lee(Department of Emergency Medical Services, Kyungdong University)
• Jinuk Kim(Department of Emergency Medical Services, Kyungdong University)
• Donghwan Oh(Department of Occuptional Therapy, Kyungdong University)
• Kuija Lee(Department of Emergency Medical Services, Kyungdong University)