La déglutition chez le prématuré peut-elle être problématique ?

The movement of sucking is one of the first intra-uterine action developed before swallowing appears, at about 15 weeks of pregnancy. This movement depends on brainstem maturity and it is, in fact, a coordination of complex movements (26 muscles are involved for the face and 17 muscles are involved for the tongue). As the formation of the brainstem has been completed by 15 weeks of pregnancy, any premature baby has got an equipment for spontaneous swallowing. Only the complex movements of the tongue itself have not been achieved, nor the regular rythmic organization between sucking, swallowing and breathing.