Proper use of intermittent oral catheter feeding (IOC) and gastrostomy for dysphagic stroke patients—A comparison of oral intake ability and gastric motility—

Abstract

We prospectively investigated oral intake ability in 57 dysphagic patients (41 cases were in recovery stage of acute stroke) managed with continuous nasal catheter feeding (CNG) or gastrostomy.
71.4% of the cases whose feeding methods were changed from CNG to intermittent oral catheter feeding (IOC) were able to eat orally three times a day, with a significantly higher incidence (p‹.05) than that in the CNG group, 21.4%, or gastrostomy group, 9.1%.
We also performed gastric motility study in 23 dysphagic patients managed with IOC or gastrostomy (16 cases were stroke patients). In that study, barium balls with colloidal fibers were infused into the stomach by catheter, and their retention time in the stomach was monitored. In the gastrostomy group, significantly more patients showed longer retention time (›35 min) compared with the IOC group (p‹.05).
These results indicate that gastrostomy disturbs physiological movement of the stomach and IOC should be considered before the application of gastrostomy in dysphagic patients in the recovery stage of stroke.