Findings of postoperative clinical assessment of swallowing in infants with congenital heart defect

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Describe the findings of postoperative clinical evaluation of swallowing in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) in a reference hospital in southern Brazil.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study conducted postoperatively with infants with medical diagnosis of CHD aged 0-6 months in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Exclusion criteria comprised infants with neurological and respiratory impairments, craniofacial malformation, structural alteration in the upper airways, and suspicion or diagnosis of genetic syndromes. Clinical evaluation was performed through partial application of the Assessment of Pediatric Dysphagia protocol. Regarding statistical analysis, the quantitative variables were described by median and interquartile range and the qualitative variables were described by absolute and relative frequencies. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate the associations.

Results

Of the 31 infants in the sample, 23 (74.2%) were classified with some degree of dysphagia. Significant difference was observed in the clinical evaluation performed with bottle-feeding compared with breast-feeding; a larger number of swallowing disorders was also found in bottle-feeding. Statistically significant correlation was observed between duration of orotracheal intubation (OTI) >24 h and presence of dysphagia.

Conclusion

Postoperative clinical evaluation enabled description of swallowing impairments in infants with CHD regardless of the type of feeding offered, as well as identification of presence of dysphagia in a large number of individuals in the sample and its association with duration of OTI >24 h.

Keywords
Heart Defects, Congenital; Infant; Evaluation; Swallowing; Deglutition Disorders; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences