Efficacy of Oral Rehabilitation Therapy in Terms of Neonatal Outcomes in Preterm Infants

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of oral rehabilitation therapy (ORT) in terms of prematurity-associated morbidities in preterm infants born before a gestational age of 33 weeks. Methods This was a single-institution retrospective case-control study including 78 high-risk preterm infants born between January 2015 and December 2016, who were administered with ORT for at least 15 minutes, 2 to 5 times/week by an occupational therapist. Various factors associated with feeding progression and neonatal morbidities were compared between the two groups. Results Seventy-eight subjects, of whom 39 were cases and 39 controls, were included in this study. Infants in the case group achieved a greater total feeding volume (122.9±85.3 mL vs. 48.9±25.7 mL, P<0.001), i.e., 8 times/day with oral feeding only, and showed significantly higher body weight (1,852.1±303.3 g vs. 1,592.3±444.1 g, P=0.003) than those in the control group with complete oral feeding day. The duration from the first day of oral feeding to full enteral feeding, i.e., 150 mL/day, was significantly shorter in the cases than that in the controls (15.4±1.4 days vs. 23.1±1.8 days, P=0.004). The body weight at discharge was higher in the cases than that in the controls (3,102.6± 619.3 g vs. 2,744.6±436.8 g, P=0.008). Moreover, the incidence of late-onset sepsis was lower in the cases than that in the controls (12.8% vs. 25.6%, P=0.033). Other prematurity-associated morbidities were not different between the two groups. Conclusion ORT in preterm infants facilitated the transition process from tube feeding to full oral feeding and reduced the incidence of late-onset sepsis.

Keywords

• treatment outcome
• infant, premature
• bottle feeding