CPAP inhibits non-nutritive swallowing through stimulation of bronchopulmonary receptors.

While swallowing and respiratory problems are among the most frequent disorders encountered in neonates, the interrelationships between both functions are not completely understood. This is especially true for non-nutritive swallowing (NNS), which fulfills the important function of clearing upper airways from both local secretions and liquids refluxed from the stomach. Recently, we showed that nasal CPAP inhibits NNS during quiet sleep in the newborn lamb (Samson, St-Hilaire, Nsegbe, Reix, Moreau-Bussière and Praud 2005). The present study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that NNS inhibition is eliminated when CPAP is directly administered through a tracheostomy, thus eliminating reflexes originating from upper airway receptors. Results show that both nasal and tracheal CPAP 6cm H2O similarly inhibit total NNS during quiet sleep, thus suggesting that the inhibiting effect of nasal CPAP on NNS is mainly mediated through bronchopulmonary mechanical receptors with minimal participation of the upper airways.