Oral Feeding for Infants and Children Receiving Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and High-Flow Nasal Cannula Respiratory Supports: A Survey of Practice

AbstractTo investigate oral-feeding practices for infants and children receiving nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) and high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) respiratory support. A survey was sent to Neonatal (NICU) and Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) in Australia and New Zealand to explore feeding practices for infants/children receiving nCPAP and HFNC, including criteria for commencing/recommencing oral feeding, frequency of oral feeding, strategies to assist oral feeding, assessment tools, reasons for not orally feeding, existence of written guidelines and staff opinion regarding feeding safety. Seventy-seven individual survey responses were analysed from 49 units from 38 hospitals. Most units (53%) reported that infants/children are ‘never or rarely’ fed orally on nCPAP compared with 21% on HFNC. 2% of units ‘often’ feed infants on nCPAP whilst 38% ‘often’ feed on HFNC. Oral feeding on HFNC is more likely to occur in a NICU (100% sometimes/often) than a PICU (55% sometimes/often) setting. Only 4% of infants are ofte n fed orally on nCPAP versus 54% on HFNC in NICUs. Eighty percent of all units reported they do not have a written policy or guideline that includes feeding recommendations for infants/children receiving non-invasive respiratory supports. Oral feeding for infants and children receiving nCPAP and HFN C is occurring in NICU and PICUs in Australia and NZ. There is varied opinion regarding the safety of oral feeding on nCPAP and HFNC. Fu...
Source: Dysphagia - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research