Abstract
The organisation of sucking and swallowing in newborn infants was investigated using ultrasound. Twelve term neonates, 6 breast-fed and 6 bottle-fed, were examined at 2-5 days postnatal age. The ultrasound probe was held under the baby's chin to record sucking and swallowing movements. Breathing was recorded with an apnoea alarm device, and displayed on the scanner monitor via the ECG input. Videotape records were made of all feeds. To analyse the records breathing movements were traced from the screen onto paper, and sucking and swallowing events over the same period superimposed onto the trace.
The analysis showed that sucks either occurred on their own or together with a swallow, whereas swallows were never observed without a suck. In babies 2-3 days of age a swallow was often associated with a pause in breathing, while in babies 4-5 days of age swallows took place at the end of an inspiratory or expiratory phase so that the breathing rhythm looked undisturbed. 2-3 day-old breast-fed babies frequently sucked more than once before swallowing: this was not seen in bottle-fed babies. During sucking on the breast tongue movements conformed to a caudally directed, peristaltic wave, while on the bottle teat they were more piston-like in the vertical plane. There were also differences between breast and bottle-fed babies in the resting position of the tongue.
These preliminary observations suggest that ultrasound provides an investigatory probe suitable for studies of normal and disturbed feeding physiology.
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F, W., Mw, W., Cn, M. et al. An ultrasonographic study of the orgenisation of sucking and swallowing in newborn infants. Pediatr Res 18, 806 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198408000-00090
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198408000-00090