POSTOPERATIVE FEEDING STRATEGIES FOR INFANTS WITH CLEFT-LIP

Post-operative feeding techniques for infants following primary repair of cleft lip vary considerably. Recommendations range from immediate return to nipple feeding post-operatively to abstinence from nipple fe eding for up to 6 weeks. Different surgeons prescribe different post-o perative feeding protocols among and within centers. The purposes of t his retrospective study (n = 42) were to: (1) identify the specific no nnipple feeding guidelines given to caregivers prior to surgery and th e duration for those practices to be used in the post-operative period , (2) describe caregiver compliance, and (3) identify post-operative c omplications (e.g. dehiscence) related to type and duration of feeding strategies. Feeding guidelines included: nonnipple feeding for 6 week s (n = 28, 67%), 3 weeks (n = 6, 14%), 2 weeks (n = 6, 14%), and unres tricted return to nipple (n = 2, 5%). Nearly all caregivers (n = 37, 8 8%) complied with recommendations. The others (n = 5, 12%) returned th eir infants to nipple feeding sooner than recommended (three in the no nnipple group for 6 weeks, and one each in the other two groups). No m edical/surgical complications were related to feeding strategies. Conc lusion: caregivers typically comply with post-operative feeding recomm endations. However, the variability in those recommendations should be reduced with feeding made as easy as possible and not a jeopardy to w ound healing. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.