Premature birth impacts bolus size and shape through nursing in infant pigs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The formation of a bolus of food is critical for proper feeding function, and there is substantial variation in the size and shape of a bolus prior to a swallow. Preterm infants exhibit decreased abilities to acquire and process food, but how that relates to their bolus size and shape is unknown. Here, we test two hypotheses: (1) that bolus size and shape will differ between term and preterm infants, and (2) bolus size and shape will change longitudinally through development in both term and preterm infants.

Methods

To test these hypotheses, we measured bolus size and shape in preterm and term infant pigs longitudinally through nursing using high-speed videofluoroscopy.

Results

Preterm infant pigs swallowed smaller volumes of milk. Although term infants inc

SUBMITTER: Mayerl CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7082200 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature