Bottle-feeding techniques for children with cleft lip and palate experiencing feeding difficulties.
Shingo Ueki, Ayaka Fujita, Yukari Kumagai and 3 others
PMID 36860720WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses and midwives reported many bottle-feeding techniques for infants with cleft lip and palate.
Nipple placement conflicted: close the cleft to create negative pressure, or avoid the cleft to prevent ulceration. Effectiveness was not tested.
Key findings
01Reported bottle-feeding techniques were grouped into preparation before feeding, nipple insertion, sucking assistance, and criteria for stopping feeding.
02Some nurses placed the nipple on the cleft to create negative pressure, while others avoided pressing it against the cleft to prevent ulceration.
03The study did not identify which techniques were more effective or caused adverse effects.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The response rate was low, and 195 of 605 completed questionnaires were excluded because they did not answer the technique questions. Participants were nurses and midwives, so techniques used by other cleft specialists were not captured. The study did not test which techniques were effective or harmful. Responses were anonymous, so the authors could not confirm the results with participants. More than 95% reported under 10 children with cleft lip and palate hospitalized annually in their department.
Declared interests
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. JP22K17504 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these techniques as evidence-based instructions for feeding infants with cleft lip and palate. The study reports nurses' and midwives' techniques, and the authors did not identify which were effective or harmful.