[Facial, lingual and pharyngeal electromyography in children: a method to study sucking and swallowing disorders and their pathophysiology].

The authors describe an electromyogaphic protocol developed with the aim of evaluating the sucking-swallowing function and of studying the pathophysiology of its disturbances in the newborn and in infants. This protocol consists of associating several techniques. Some of them are traditional: EMG of the facial muscles and nerves and blink reflex, while others are original: EMG of the tongue and hypoglossal nerve, EMG of the velum palatinum, and a dynamic study using a baby bottle, of the sucking and swallowing reflex for a liquid meal. For each technique, practical procedures are described together with normal results observed between birth and 3 years of age. The authors report on abnormalities observed in pathological conditions and discuss their significance in major nosological contexts. They emphasize the value of this EMG protocol in assessing the sucking-swallowing reflex, in revealing anatomo-functional disturbances in the brainstem and in tackling the pathophysiological aspects of aspiration pneumopathies, feeding difficulties and bucco-facial malformations.