NCT07212634

Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Dysphagia After Supratentorial Stroke

Not yet recruiting NA Last updated 8 October 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Dysphagia After Stroke in 76 participants. Not yet recruiting.

Timeline

1 December 2025

Primary endpoint
1 December 2027

31 December 2027

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital
Phase	NA
Status	Not yet recruiting
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	double
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	76
Start date	1 December 2025
Primary completion	1 December 2027
Estimated completion	31 December 2027

Drugs / interventions tested

• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
• Sham tDCS

Conditions studied

• Dysphagia After Stroke — all drugs for Dysphagia After Stroke →

Sponsor

Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital

Who can join

Adults 30 to 75, any sex, with Dysphagia After Stroke. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

It is estimated that 400,000 to 800,000 people worldwide develop neurogenic dysphagia annually. Stroke represents the most common etiology, with approximately 65% of acute stroke patients experiencing pharyngeal swallowing difficulties. Clinical manifestations of dysphagia vary widely in severity and may include residue, reflux, delayed swallowing initiation, aspiration, and cricopharyngeal muscle dysfunction. Due to its detrimental effects on nutrition, respiration, and psychosocial well-being, dysphagia significantly impairs patients' quality of life. Furthermore, the inability to swallow safely and efficiently can lead to serious complications such as aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, and depression. The traditional swallowing rehabilitation treatment has limited effect in clinical practice, which makes it necessary to search for new effective swallowing methods.

Conventional swallowing rehabilitation often yields limited clinical benefits, highlighting the urgent need for more effective therapeutic strategies. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and safe neuromodulation technique that has shown promise in the field of neurorehabilitation. Its mechanisms extend beyond immediate cortical modulation and cerebral blood flow changes to include the regulation of synaptic plasticity, neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA, and excitability in remote subcortical regions. In recent years, tDCS has been increasingly applied to various neurological disorders, including post-stroke motor impairment, dysphagia, aphasia, depression, addiction, and spinal cord injury-related movement disorders. Currently, tDCS is being explored to elucidate its regulatory effects on cerebellar swallowing control, positioning it as a potential innovative treatment for neurogenic dysphagia.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.