Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Added to Oral Motor Therapy in Cerebral Palsy

Drooling is a common and disabling problem in children with cerebral palsy, adversely affecting health, social participation, and quality of life. Oral motor therapy is frequently used to improve oral control, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been suggested as an adjunctive treatment to enhance orofacial muscle function.

This randomized, controlled, single-blind study will include children aged 4 to 17 years diagnosed with cerebral palsy and presenting with moderate to severe drooling (Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale score ≥3). Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: oral motor therapy alone, oral motor therapy plus active NMES, and oral motor therapy with sham NMES. The intervention comprises twelve therapy sessions over four weeks, delivered by a trained therapist.

Oral motor therapy involves exercises targeting lips, tongue, cheeks, and jaw, in addition to thermal and tactile stimulation (using brushes, spoons, cold packs, and heat packs). NMES will be applied bilaterally to the masseter muscles and to the orbicularis oris muscle using a Chattanooga NMES device. Sham NMES will simulate the procedure without delivering active stimulation.

Outcome measures will be assessed before and after the intervention and will include both subjective and objective drooling scales: Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS), Drooling Impact Scale (DIS), Visual Analog Scale for drooling severity, Drooling Quotient (DQ5), and caregiver reports of bib usage. Orofacial muscle thickness will be measured with ultrasound imaging. Additional assessments will include functional classification systems (GMFCS, MACS, CFCS, VFCS, EDACS, FOIS) and the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PEDI EAT-10).

This study is approved by the Ethics Committee of Istanbul Medipol University.