The Effectiveness of an Oral Sensorimotor Stimulation Protocol for the Early Achievement of Exclusive Oral Feeding in Premature Infants. A Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Aims: This study is aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an oral stimulation protocol in preterm infants compared to usual care, to reduce the time for achieving safe full oral feeding.Methods: 47 preterm infants (25- 30 weeks of gestational age) were randomized into two groups. Babies of the EG (n = 24) received a 10-minute oral stimulation protocol while the CG (n = 23) received the standard care. The primary outcome were the days from the initiation of the intervention until the achievement of full oral feeding. Secondary outcomes were: days from the first day the intervention started until achieving a first oral intake of 30% in the first 5 minutes, days from the first day the inte…