Oral Feeding in Infants After Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Repair While on Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation: The Impact of a Dysphagia Provider-Led Protocol

Infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) who require non-invasive positive pressure ventilation or high flow nasal cannula are at risk for aspiration and delayed initiation of oral feeding. We developed a dysphagia provider-led protocol that involved early consultation with an occupational therapist or speech/language pathologist and modified barium swallow study (MBSS) to assess for readiness for oral feeding initiation/advancement on non-invasive positive pressure ventilation. The objective of this study was to retrospectively compare this intervention cohort to a historical control cohort to evaluate the protocol’s impact on the time to initiate oral feeding. We describe the development and implementation of the protocol, the MBSS findings of the intervention cohort, and compared the control (n = 64) and intervention (n = 37) cohorts using Fischer’s exact test and Mann–Whitney test. We found that both cohorts had similar prenatal and neonatal characteristics including age at extubation. Significantly more infants in the intervention cohort were on non-invasive positive pressure ventilation or high flow nasal cannula at the time of oral feeding initiation (84% vs. 28%, p < 0.0001). None of the control cohort infants underwent MBSS while on respiratory support. Of the intervention cohort, 15 infants underwent a MBSS while on non-invasive positive pressure ventilation; 6 had no evidence of laryngeal penetration and/or aspiration during swallowing. Infants in the control cohort initiated oral feeds significantly sooner after extubation (6 versus 11 days, p = 0.001) and attained full oral feeds earlier (20 days versus 28 days, p = 0.02) than the intervention group. There was no difference in the rate of gastrostomy tube placement (38%). Appropriate monitoring by a dysphagia provider and evaluation with clinical and radiological means are crucial to determine the safety of initiating oral feeding in term infants with CDH. Continued surveillance is needed to determine the long-term impact on oral feeding progression in this population.