The effect of nutritional position on nutritional performance in 0-6 months-old infants with cleft lip and/or palate

ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF NUTRITIONAL POSITION ON NUTRITIONAL PERFORMANCE IN 0-6 MONTHS-OLD INFANTS WITH CLEFT LİP AND/OR PALATE This study was conducted in a sample of patients with cleft lip and/or palate between 0-6 months of age, who were preoperatively followed up in Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Outpatient Clinic and was designed as a single-group, non-randomized quasi-experimental study to determine the effect of "raised lateral position (RLP)" on physiologic values (oxygen saturation and peak heart rate) and nutritional performance (feeding time, food intake per minute and percentage of food intake). Infants between 0-6 months of age, diagnosed with cleft lip and/or palate and followed-up in Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Outpatient Clinic (n=46) between January 2021-2022 comprised the universe of our study. Infants who were followed up in the same outpatient clinic between these dates, were fed with a bottle specially produced for babies with cleft lip and palate, and with families volunteered were included in the study. After resting for 5 minutes in the raised upright position (ESU) and raised lateral position (ESL), the heart rates (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO2) values, the averages of feeding performances (feeding time, food intake per minute and percentage of food intake) were recorded in babies with cleft lip-palate included in the study (n=45) before oral feeding with a bottle, during the feeding period (5,10,15,20, 25 and 30 minutes average) and after resting for 5 minutes at the end of the feeding. There was no significant difference between the position groups in terms of oxygen saturation (SpO2) values before feeding, at the 5th minute and mean value of the feeding period, and at the 5th minute after the feeding (p>0.05). In means of feeding performances, no significant difference was observed in the total feeding time (U=924 p=0.474), the amount of food taken (U=915.00 p=0.432), the amount of food left in the bottle (U=793.5 p= 0.057), the percentage of the amount of food (U= 817.5 p=0.091) and the feeding yield ratio (U=896 p=0.347). Keywords: Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, Nurse, Nutrition, Position.