Hanan Rashad

One of the most common feeding problems of preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) is difficulty reaching full oral feeding. The use of an individualized, evidence-based approach is strongly recommended to assist preterm infants in transitioning from gavage to full oral feeding. Hence, this study evaluates the effect of a 5-min. prefeeding oral stimulation program on oral feeding duration, total oral intake rate and net- leakage of preterm infants who were defined as inefficient feeders. A quasi- experimental design was used on a purposive sample composed of fifty five preterm infants selected from two NICUs of Cairo University Hospitals. Twenty eight as a control group who were left to hospital routine care, and twenty seven as intervention group. Three minutes of manual perioral and intraoral stimulation followed by two minutes of sucking on a pacifier was applied to the intervention group for two consecutive days twice per day. Results revealed that the intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in total oral intake rate, less net leakage and shorter oral feeding duration than the control group. In conclusion, prefeeding oral stimulation program improved the preterm infants' feeding performance. Such an intervention should be implemented for inefficient preterm infants in the NICUs because it is safe, simple and inexpensive.

Key words: Prefeeding oral stimulation program - Feeding performance -Preterm infants.

Stomatitis has been shown to occur closer to fourty percent in solid tumor children receiving chemotherapy. Cryotherapy is an alternative method of preventing stomatitis associated with chemotherapeutic drugs. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oral cryotherapy on the occurrence of stomatitis induced by chemotherapy among children with bone tumors. A quasi-experimental design was utilized on a convenient sample of 60 children with bone tumors, thirty of them followed the hospital routine care (control group) and other thirty sucked ice cubes (study group) before inducing chemotherapy session for five minutes to half an hour during session and thirty five minutes after session. Both groups were treated with the following chemotherapy drugs: Adriamycin and Methotrexate. This study was conducted at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo, Egypt. Oral assessment guide (OAG) was used prior, 3rd, 4th and 5th days post intravenous chemotherapy administration during induction phase. Results revealed that no significant difference was detected in the mean total scores of both group prior to chemotherapy administration while it decreased significantly at the third, fourth and fifth days post chemotherapy for children who received oral cryotherapy than do not received. Children who received oral ice cubes had healthier oral cavity than who did not receive. It was concluded that oral cryotherapy reduces the severity of stomatitis induced by chemotherapy. Oral cryotherapy must be involved in the routine care for a child who receiving chemotherapy was recommended.