Prefeeding interventions improve oral feeding in preterm infants

To assess whether oral stimulation (OS), nonnutritive sucking (NNS) and combined tactile/kinesthetic (T/K) interventions can improve the effects of oral feeding in preterm infants.

A retrospective review was performed from 2014 to 2016, in which one hundred thirty preterm infants were separated into two intervention groups (the OS + NNS group and the OS + NNS + T/K group) and one control group. Infants in the two intervention groups received 30 min of interventions a day. All interventions started 48 h after stopping nasal continuous positive airway pressure until participants reached complete oral feeding.

The transition times of the OS + NNS, OS + NNS + T/K, and control groups from the introduction of oral feeding to independent oral feeding were 9.03 ± 0.58, 7.20 ± 0.28, and 12.17 ± 0.64 days, respectively (P < 0.05). The infants' weights at full oral feeding in the OS + NNS, OS + NNS + T/K, and control groups were 1834.58 ± 47.96, 1999.17 ± 92.62, and 1725.87 ± 40.34 g, respectively (P = 0.007). Further post hoc analyses indicated that the weight gain at full oral feeding in the OS + NNS and OS + NNS + T/K groups were more significant than the control group (P = 0.012 and P = 0.036, respectively)Conclusion: OS + NNS and OS + NNS + T/K interventions could shorten the transition time from tube feeding to independent oral feeding; OS + NNS and OS + NNS + T/K interventions improved weight gain compared to the control group. Furthermore, the OS + NNS + T/K group was superior to the OS + NNS group regarding transition time and weight gain.