Supportive Nursing Interventions for Children with Cerebral Palsy having Feeding Difficulties

Abstract

erebral Palsy (CP) is a static non progressive brain disorder defined as a group of motor disorders resulting from damage of the brain that occurs before, during, or after birth. The damage of the child’s brain affects the motor system including poor coordination, poor balance, abnormal movement patterns or a combination of these characteristics (Sadowska, 2020). Feeding difficulties / disorders may present as inadequate growth, prolonged feeding times, delayed progression of oral feeding skills or recurrent respiratory disease. Children with CP have dysphagia caused by a central nervous system disorder in which passive tone is variable (hypertonia common with spastic CP), active tone is normal or mildly decreased and primitive reflexes may be strong and persistent. Although children with neurological-based dysphagia may not produce a gag upon stimulation, they may be appropriate for oral feeding. There is no direct relationship between gag and swallowing ability. Chronic aspiration is of concern in this patient group and may be difficult to delineate when there is no cough response to aspiration events. Hypoxemia may occur during oral feeding (Arvedson, 2013).