Oral-motor skills following sensorimotor therapy in two groups of moderately dysphagic children with cerebral palsy: Aspiration vs nonaspiration

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of oral sensorimotor treatment on oral-motor skills and measures of growth in moderately eating impaired children with cerebral palsy who were stratified by state of aspiration/nonaspiration. Twenty-seven children aged 2.5-10.0 years participated in this study (aspiration: n = 7, nonaspiration: n = 20). Weight and skinfold measures were taken. Children were observed at lunch time and six domains of feeding were examined: spoon feeding, biting, chewing, cup drinking, straw drinking, swallowing, and drooling. Children underwent 10 weeks of control and 10 weeks of sensorimotor treatment, 5-7 minutes/day, 5 days/week. Treatment compliance for the entire group was 67%. Children who aspirated had significantly poorer oral-motor skills in spoon feeding, biting, chewing, and swallowing than children who did not aspirate. There was significant improvement in eating: spoon feeding (fewer abnormal behaviors, p < 0.03), chewing (more normal behaviors, p < 0.003), and swallowing (more normal behaviors, p < 0.008). There were no significant changes in drinking skills. Children as a group maintained their pretreatment weight-age percentile but did not show any catch-up growth. Children showed adequate energy reserves as measured by skinfold thicknesses. Improvement in oral-motor skills may help these children to ingest food more competently (i.e., less spillage). However, their weight remains at the lowest level of age norms.

Impact of Oral Appliance Therapy: Are Oral Skills and Growth Maintained One Year after Termination of Therapy?

“…Time for illness accounted for 5.5 5.17, and the time they did not wear the appliance was 22.326.47. These ®gures are well within the average we have experienced over the past 8 years[20,32]. All children (n=17) attended the three assessment sessions at M12, M18, and M24.…”

``Whole Body'' Mobility After One Year of Intraoral Appliance Therapy in Children with Cerebral Palsy and Moderate Eating Impairment

“…Casaer et al [11] showed that postural controls are present in the neonate, but that they vary with behavioral state and positioning and seem to be task specific, i.e., they change with feeding. Our heightened awareness of the role of postural support/control has evolved from our studies on the efficacy of oral motor therapies in children with CP and eating impairments [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this domain, it has become clear that the safety of ingestion is dependent on proper positioning of the head, neck, and trunk [18,19].…”

Indicadores da evolução do paciente com paralisia cerebral e disfagia orofaríngea após intervenção terapêutica

“…Um estudo (23) verificou o efeito da intervenção sensório-motora oral em 27 crianças com PC, observando melhora nas habilidades motoras orais, com maior funcionalidade da alimentação com uso da colher, durante a mastigação e na deglutição; porém, não na ingesta de líquidos.…”