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Updated: Jun 27, 2025
Author Spotlight: Implications of Non-Nutritive Sucking on Speech Emergence and Infant Development
Published on: April 19, 2024
The effect of oral motor intervention with different initiation times to improve feeding outcomes in preterm infants:
Yingxin Li1,2, Yanlin Hu1,2, Yuan Li1,2
1Department of Neonatology Nursing, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China.
Insights
Oral motor interventions (OMIs) help premature infants improve feeding skills. This study investigates the optimal timing for initiating OMIs to enhance oral feeding and reduce hospital stays for preterm infants.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatric nutrition
- Developmental pediatrics
Background:
- Premature infants often struggle with oral feeding, prolonging hospital stays and impacting quality of life.
- Neonatal intensive care units face challenges in improving preterm infants' oral feeding skills and transition from non-oral routes.
- Oral motor interventions (OMIs) show promise in enhancing feeding capabilities and expediting oral feeding transitions in preterm infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the optimal timing for initiating oral motor interventions (OMIs) in preterm infants.
- To assess how OMIs facilitate the transition from tube feeding to full oral feeding.
- To explore potential long-term effects of OMIs on growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A single-blind, randomized controlled trial involving preterm infants (29+0 to 34+6 weeks gestational age).
- Infants randomized to two groups, both receiving OMIs, with differing intervention start times.
- Intervention initiation based on milk intake or 48 hours post-nasal continuous positive airway pressure discontinuation.
Main Results:
- This section is not available in the provided abstract.
Conclusions:
- OMIs involve non-nutritive sucking and oral stimulation techniques targeting the infant's oral structures.
- The study aims to identify the ideal timing for OMIs to improve oral feeding skills and transition.
- Findings may inform clinical practice and reduce the societal burden of preterm birth.
Background:
Premature infants commonly encounter difficulties with oral feeding, a complication that extends hospital stays, affects infants' quality of life, and imposes substantial burdens on families and society. Enhancing preterm infants' oral feeding skills and facilitating their transition from parenteral or nasal feeding to full oral feeding pose challenges for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) healthcare professionals. Research indicates that oral motor interventions (OMIs) can enhance preterm infants' oral feeding capabilities and expedite the transition from feeding initiation to full oral feeding. Nonetheless, the most suitable timing for commencing these interventions remains uncertain.
Methods:
This is a single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Preterm with a gestational age between 29+0 to 34+6 weeks will be eligible for the study. These infants will be randomized and allocated to one of two groups, both of which will receive the OMIs. The intervention commences once the infant begins milk intake during the early OMIs. Additionally, in the late OMIs group, the intervention will initiate 48 h after discontinuing nasal continuous positive airway pressure.
Discussion:
OMIs encompass non-nutritive sucking and artificial oral stimulation techniques. These techniques target the lips, jaw, muscles, or tongue of premature infants, aiming to facilitate the shift from tube feeding to oral feeding. The primary objective is to determine the ideal intervention timing that fosters the development of oral feeding skills and ensures a seamless transition from parenteral or nasal feeding to full oral feeding among preterm infants. Furthermore, this study might yield insights into the long-term effects of OMIs on the growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants. Such insights could bear substantial significance for the quality of survival among preterm infants and the societal burden imposed by preterm birth.
Trial Registration:
chictr.org.cn ChiCTR2300076721. Registered on October 17, 2023.
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