Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2024 Jun;53(2):329-341.doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2024.01.008. Epub 2024 Feb 12.

Judy Hopkins ¹, Russell Merritt ²

Author information

¹Division of Occupational Therapy, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: jhopkins@chla.usc.edu.

²Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Infants and children with intestinal failure are at risk for pediatric feeding disorders, which challenge their oral feeding development. This article explores these challenges and offers several practical strategies that can be used by multidisciplinary care teams and at-home caregivers to help support the development of oral feeding in these children and eventually lead to their attaining enteral autonomy.