Infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia suckle with weak pressures to maintain breathing during feeding.
OBJECTIVE
Preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia often demonstrate sucking difficulties. The aim of this study was to determine whether the severity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia affects not only coordination among suck-swallow-respiration but also sucking endurance and performance itself.


METHODS
Twenty very low birth weight infants were studied. Infants with anomalies or intraventricular hemorrhage were excluded from the evaluation. Subjects were divided into 3 groups: no bronchopulmonary dysplasia (7 infants), bronchopulmonary dysplasia without home oxygen therapy (7 infants), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia with home oxygen therapy (6 infants). In addition to sucking efficiency, pressure, frequency, duration, and duration of sucking burst, length of deglutition apnea, number of swallows per burst, and respiratory rate were also measured during bottle-feeding at 40 weeks' postmenstrual age. In addition, PCO2 and oxygen saturation were measured at rest and during bottle-feeding.


RESULTS
Infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia demonstrated not only the lowest sucking pressure and sucking frequency, shortest sucking burst duration, and lowest feeding efficiency but also the lowest frequency of swallows during the run and the longest deglutition apnea. The respiratory rate was highest, and the decrease in oxygen saturation was largest, in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.


CONCLUSIONS
Feeding problems depend on the severity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia demonstrated not only poor feeding coordination but also poor feeding endurance and performance.
Mizuno
Katsumi
K
Showa University of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8666, Japan. katsuorobi@aol.com
Nishida
Yoshiko
Y
Taki
Motohiro
M
Hibino
Satoshi
S
Murase
Masahiko
M
Sakurai
Motoichirou
M
Itabashi
Kazuo
K
D001049:Apnea / Q000503:physiopathology; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D012119:Respiration; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014160:Transducers, Pressure
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010100:Oxygen