Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction Normal development of sucking, swallowing and chewing require the correct oral skills, as well as coordination of voluntary and involuntary movements of oro-facial and tongue muscles. 1 In children with cerebral palsy, normal functioning of this group of muscles is impaired in a variety of ways. 2,3 Abnormal tension and movement of the tongue, throat and palate, as well as sensory defects in these areas may lead to strangulation, as well as prevent swallow of saliva and thus cause drooling in these children. 4 The two-sided impairment of the upper motor neuron also usually causes swallowing disorder, which involves problems in the formation of food morsel and delays in the transfer the solid and liquid food from the oral cavity to the digestive tract. 5 The swallow function is divided to the voluntary oral stage and the pharyngeal stages and involuntary esophagus. 6 Oral stage is performed by coordinated movements of the mouth, throat and larynx. Chewing a morsel, prepare it for transfer to the throat and esophagus. This process also requires adequate saliva secretion, oral-pharyngeal mucosal layers, and neuro-muscular coordination, which is controlled voluntarily by the cranial nerves 5, 7 and 12. When the food reaches the posterior throat, the pharyngeal stage begins and immediately a sensory message is sent to the swallowing center in medulla oblongata and a coordinated response is returned. The efferent messages, which are cholinergic stimuli, transmit impulses to the upper throat and esophagus through various cranial nerves (e.g., 5, 9 and 10). 7 The third stage of swallowing (esophagial) that is an involuntary refex, with the relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter and the successive constrictions of the muscle of the body of the esophagus, morsel is pushed along the esophagus to the stomach. 8 The oral and pharyngeal abnormalities of the swallowing process result in the patient’s inability to form a mouthful of food and move it to the throat, resulting in the presence of food in the mouth. 9 Abnormalities in the second stage of swallowing cause to delay in transmission the fuid and food in the lower larynx, which is associated with coughing, choking, returning food from the nose (causing choking, producing tears and sneezing), or vomiting; initial symptoms this condition is a feeling of itching in the throat and dry cough during mealtime. 10 Another problem in children with swallowing disorder is excessive sensation in the oral area and oral mucosa that causes vomiting and severe choking when eating solid foods. 4 Some movements and muscles related to the function of swallowing, speech, as well as neural networks related to the high level control of these motor functions is same, 11,12 which is why, in most children with cerebral palsy, in addition to swallowing problems, a speech dysarthria is also seen. 13 According to Rezaei et al., Nutritional skills disorder that also show the sensory-motor and muscle tone defcits is common in children with cerebral palsy. 14–16 The results of Calis and Kulak’s research indicate that there is a correlation between the severity of swallowing disorder and the severity of cerebral palsy, and in children with the most severe type of cerebral palsy (involvement of all four organs), swallowing disorder is more common. 17–18 The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of swallowing disorders in children with cerebral palsy and to determine the relationship between type of cerebral palsy and severity of swallowing disorder. Materials and methods This study was descriptive-analytic and conducted in a cross- sectional manner. The target population in this study was children who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy by a neurologist. In this study, 60 children referred to Speech Therapy Clinics of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences participated in this study under the control of Speech and Language pathologists by simple random sampling method. Children who suffered from seizures during the past year or oral-facial impairment such as cleft palate and lip and dental defects were excluded from the study. Data were collected by a questionnaire J Otolaryngol ENT Res. 2019;11(1):56‒58. 56 ©2019 Sakhaei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Investigation of feeding problems in children with cerebral palsy Volume 11 Issue 1 - 2019 Farhad Sakhaei, 1 Golnoosh Golmohamadi, 1 Mohamad Rezaei 2 1 University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Iran 2 Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Iran Correspondence: Farhad Sakhai, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Tehran, Iran, Tel 0098912809589, Email Received: December 12, 2018 | Published: February 05, 2019 Abstract Introduction: Eating and swallowing are important for child health and play an essential role in her/his physical, social, emotional and cultural development. In children with cerebral palsy because of neuromuscular disorders, there is high prevalence of feeding and swallowing disorders. Early diagnosis, prevention and management of feeding problems are important process. In this study, feeding problems in different types of cerebral palsy were investigated. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 60 children with cerebral palsy that referred to clinical centers were selected using random sampling. Feeding and swallowing skills of these children were investigated with using of Pediatric assessment scale for severe feeding problems. Results: Findings indicated that children with spastic and flaccid cerebral palsy have feeding problems with similar severity. Also children with athetoid cerebral palsy showed lowest severity of feeding problems. Conclusion: Swallowing performance and proper feeding skills plays an important role in children’s development. Given the high prevalence of feeding problems in children with cerebral palsy, early diagnosis and intervention should be done to prevent of secondary problems. Keywords: cerebral palsy, feeding skills, swallowing Journal of Otolaryngology-ENT Research Research Article Open Access