PURPOSE: to check the time of transition from the feeding tube to oral feeding in newborns with Bronchopulmonar Dysplasia (BPD); observe the difficulties occurred during the oral feeding./ METHODS: the speech pathology department reviewed thirty-two past cases of newborns born in the Pedro Ernesto Hospital of Rio de Janeiro State University. The first group was composed of eighteen newborns with BPD, while a second group was composed of eighteen healthy newborns born between 29 and 32 weeks used as a control group. We observed in both groups the following items: time it took for the newborns to transition from the feeding tube to the oral one, the difficulties presented during feeding periods, and finally the type of oral alimentation used by the discharge time. RESULTS: the mean and standard deviation of the sample were 18.22 days and 14.79, respectively; for the control group it was 6.50 and 3.68, respectively (p=0.002). The group with BPD showed respiratory stress, lack of coordination between suctions, breathing and swallowing, and suction dysfunction. They also fell asleep during alimentation, showing extreme physical strain and defensive behaviors. Despite these results, 10 newborns (52.63%) were discharged on exclusive breastfeeding and 3 (15,78%) on mixed feeding (cupfeeding with breastfeeding). CONCLUSION: patients with BPD need extended time (18 days) to learn oral feeding, and moreover, they are susceptible to intercurrence during feeding. Nevertheless, it was possible to testify an exclusive breastfeeding.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia; Infant, Newborn; Feeding
