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.