Swallow Safety in Infant Pigs With and Without Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Lesion.
Bethany M Stricklen, Laura E Bond, Francois D H Gould and 2 others
PMID 32112144WHAT IT FOUND
In infant pigs, recurrent laryngeal nerve lesion increased penetration without clearance in the younger pigs, but aspiration rates were similar across groups.
By the older age, lesioned pigs resembled controls. This is animal data, not human feeding evidence.
Key findings
01Young lesioned pigs had more swallows with penetration without clearance than young control pigs and older pigs.
02All four groups had safe swallows about 50% of the time and aspiration about 15% of the time.
03Older lesioned pigs performed similarly to older control pigs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is an animal study in infant pigs, not human infants, so it cannot directly guide clinical feeding decisions. The animal counts are inconsistent: methods report 15 control and 9 lesion pigs, while the results say 442 swallows came from 18 animals. The study was not paired, which the authors say reduces power. Only one person rated each swallow, although evaluators were trained to 90% reliability. No IMPAS scores of 4 to 6 were observed, so the middle scale levels were not represented. The lesioned pigs were otherwise normal, while human recurrent laryngeal nerve injury often occurs with other problems. The study did not measure other feeding outcomes, such as tongue movement or bolus formation.
Declared interests
The paper lists NIH extramural research support. The article text does not include a conflicts of interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that recurrent laryngeal nerve lesion increases aspiration in human infants. In this animal study, aspiration occurred in about 15% of swallows in both lesioned and control groups, and the lesion mainly increased penetration without clearance in the younger pigs.