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Nutritional support and interventions

Children with SMA may have difficulty eating due to weak swallowing muscles and poor head control, putting them at risk of aspiration and poor nutrition. Nutritional support and feeding tubes may be an option for children with insufficient caloric intake or impaired oral feeding.1,2

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patient

Common issues affecting nutrition in children with SMA

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Watch and learn

Managing nutrition in the changing treatment landscape of SMA 

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Feeding tubes may be an option for children with SMA when there is concern about insufficient caloric intake or the safety of oral feeding1,2

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References
  1. Wang CH et al. J Child Neurol 2007; 22: 1027–49.
  2. Cure SMA. Tube feeding and SMA: recommendations and practices. Available at:
    https://www.curesma.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/tube-feeding-conf-2018.pdf. Accessed April 2020.
  3. Birnkrant DJ et al. Ped Neurol 1998; 18: 407–10.
  4. Iannaccone ST. J Child Neurol 2007; 22: 974–8.
  5. Cure SMA. Nutrition basics: fostering health and growth for spinal muscular atrophy [patient booklet]. Available at: https://www.curesma.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/02252020_Nutrition_Basics_vWeb.pdf. Accessed April 2020.
  6. Messina S et al. Neuromuscul Disord 2008; 18: 389–93.
  7. Cha TH et al. Dysphagia 2010; 25: 261–4.
  8. Darras BT et al. Neuromuscular Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence: A Clinician’s Approach. 2nd ed. London, UK: Elsevier; 2015.
  9. Yang JH et al. Clin Orthop Relat Res 2011; 469: 3501–5.
  10. Sproule DM et al. Neuromuscul Disord 2010; 20: 448–52.
  11. Sproule DM et al. Neuromuscul Disord 2009; 19: 391–6.
  12. Bladen CL et al. J Neurol 2014; 261: 152–63.