Objective To observe the effect of individualized swallowing training in the neonatal intensive care unit on the swallowing function of premature infants with feeding disorders.Methods Sixty-two preterm (28 to 32 weeks) infants with feeding disorders were randomly divided into a treatment group (n=34) and a control group (n =28).Both groups were given routine gastric tube feeding,but the treatment group was additionally provided with individualized swallowing training twice a day for 2 weeks,including oral sensory and motor stimulation,milking,family participation,a better environment and a selection of feeding tools.The subjects' daily milk consumption and weight were recorded,along with the age when the gastric tube was removed and the total length of the hospital stay.Results The treatment group showed significantly greater improvement than the control group in their daily milk consumption and weight gain,though both groups showed significant improvements.The average time to removing the gastric tube and the average hospital stay were both significantly shorter for the treatment group than for the control group.Conclusion Individualized swallowing training can effectively improve sucking and swallowing skills and shorten the period of using a gastric tube and the total hospital stay for premature infants.

Objective To study the characteristics of the head shape and correlations among the shape parameters in infants at the plagiocephaly.Methods One hundred and four infants at the age of 4-12 months from Department of Rehabilitation,Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center with plagiocephaly or normal head shape from January to October 2016 were selected for head shape characteristic analysis.Seventy-four males and 30 females were included.Seventy-three infants (53 males and 20 females) with plagiocephaly were plagiocephaly group with age of (7.07 ±2.23) months.Thirty-one infants (21 males and 10 females) with normal head shape were control group with age for (8.29 ± 2.81) months.The Spectra scanner 2.0 was applied to acquire head shape parameters including cephalic ratio (CR),radial symmetry index (RSI),oblique diagonal difference (ODD),and cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI).The correlation between the head shape characteristics and shape parameters of infants in different month ages and gender with plagiocephaly were analyzed through independent sample t-test and Pearson correlation analysis.Among all the enrolled infants,there were 46 infants in 4-7 months (36 cases with plagiocephaly and 10 cases with normal head shape),34 infants in ＞ 7-10 months (24 cases with plagiocephaly and 10 cases with normal head shape),and 24 infants in ＞ 10-12 months (13 cases with plagiocephaly and 11 cases with normal head shape).Results CR in 4-7 months group and ＞ 7-10 months of plagiocephaly group were all significantly higher than that in control group [(91.32 ± 5.60) ％ vs.(80.73 ± 2.68) ％,(90.31 ± 6.22) ％ vs.(84.14 ± 3.57) ％],and the differences were all statistically significant (t =-5.765,-2.924,all P ＜ 0.05).The difference was not significant of the CR in ＞ 10-12 months plagiocephaly group compared with that in control group (t =-1.917,P =0.060).RSI,ODD,and CVAI of plagiocephaly group in all ages were significantly higher than those in control group [(46.40 ± 13.59) mmvs.(16.13 ±4.18) mm,(11.84±3.58) mmvs.(3.44±1.59) mm,7.92±2.43 vs.2.34± 1.07],and the differences were all statistically significant (t =-17.210,-16.579,-16.304,all P ＜ 0.001).CR,RSI,ODD,and CVAI of males and females in plagiocephaly group were respectively higher than those of control group,and the differences were all statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.001).There was no statistical significance in CR,RSI,ODD,CVAI between males and females in plagiocephaly group or control group (all P ＞ 0.05).Pearson correlation analysis revealed that there was no correlation between CR and RSI,ODD,CVAI in any age of plagiocephaly group (all P ＞ 0.05).There was a positive correlation among RSI,ODD,and CVAI in the plagiocephaly group in any age (r =0.940,0.912,0.973,all P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions In the infants with plagiocephaly may exist asymmetric head shape and the shorter length of head at the same time.When one of the values of RSI,ODD and CVAI increases,the other two values increase too with more serious level of plagiocephaly.