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Effect of nonnutritive sucking and oral stimulation on feeding performance in preterm infants: a randomized

Yuxia Zhang1, Tianchan Lyu, Xiaojing Hu

  • 11Nursing Department, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 2Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 3Department of Information, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 4School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, Education and Society, Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom. 5School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty Health Science, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. 6Department of Pediatrics, Intensive Care Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Pediatric Critical Care Medicine : a Journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies
|July 1, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Combining nonnutritive sucking (NNS) and oral stimulation (OS) significantly reduced the time preterm infants needed to transition from tube to independent oral feeding. This combined intervention also improved milk transfer rates and oral feeding proficiency.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal care
  • Pediatric nutrition
  • Developmental pediatrics

Background:

  • Preterm infants often require tube feeding due to difficulties with oral feeding.
  • Transitioning to independent oral feeding is a critical developmental milestone.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effectiveness of nonnutritive sucking (NNS) and oral stimulation (OS), alone or combined, in reducing the transition time to independent oral feeding in preterm infants.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 120 preterm infants in a neonatal ICU.
  • Infants were assigned to NNS, OS, combined NNS + OS, or a control group.
  • The primary outcome was the transition time from tube to independent oral feeding.

Main Results:

  • All intervention groups showed a reduced transition time compared to the control group (p < 0.001).
  • Milk transfer rates were significantly higher in all intervention groups (p < 0.001).
  • Oral feeding proficiency improved significantly only in the combined NNS + OS group (p = 0.035).

Conclusions:

  • Combined nonnutritive sucking and oral stimulation effectively reduces the transition time to independent oral feeding in preterm infants.
  • This combined approach enhances milk transfer rates and oral feeding proficiency.
  • NNS and OS interventions are beneficial for improving oral feeding in preterm neonates.
Abstract

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