Introduction: The aim of this study was to describe the development and assess the usefulness of a feeding clinic to help infants with CHD tolerate the highest level of oral feeding while achieving growth velocity and supporting neurodevelopment.
Materials and methods: This retrospective, cohort study assessed feeding outcomes for infants who underwent cardiac surgery at <30 days of age with cardiopulmonary bypass between February 2016 and April 2020. Diagnoses, age at surgery, hospitalisation variables, and feeding outcomes were compared between two cohorts, pre- and post-implementation of a specialised feeding clinic using Exact Wilcoxon signed-rank test, chi-squared, or Fisher's exact test. The association between time to full oral feed and risk factors was assessed using univariable and multivariable Cox regression model.
Results: Post-clinic infants (n = 116) surgery was performed at a median of 6 days of life (interquartile range: 4, 8) with median hospital length of stay of 19 days (interquartile range: 16, 26). Infants' median age at first clinic visit was at 30 days old (interquartile range: 24, 40) and took median 10 days (interquartile range: 7, 12) after hospital discharge to first clinic visit. In the post-clinic cohort, the median time to 100% oral feeding was 47 days (interquartile range: 27, 96) compared to the 60 days (interquartile range: 20, 84) in the pre-clinic cohort (n = 22), but the difference was not statistically significant.
Discussion: The cardiac feeding clinic was utilised by our neonatal surgery population and feasible in coordination with cardiology follow-up visits. Future assessment of cardiac feeding clinic impact should include additional measures of feeding and neurodevelopmental success.
Keywords: CHD; Oral feeding; dysphagia; feeding challenges; feeding clinic; feeding difficulties; neurodevelopmental delays.