Abstract: Objective: To explore the effects of Sucking-Swallowing-Breathing (SSwB) rhythm rehabilitation training on feeding outcomes in extremely preterm infants and to provide references for clinical feeding care of extremely preterm infants. Methods: Preterm infants with extremely low gestational age admitted to the NICU of a tertiary grade A general hospital in Jiangsu province from January 2022 to December 2024 were selected by convenience sampling and divided into an observation group and a control group, with 43 cases in each group. The control group received routine feeding nursing care, while the observation group received sequential and systematic rehabilitation training based on SSwB rhythm on the basis of routine care. The feeding outcomes of infants in the two groups were compared. Results: The time to achieve full oral feeding in the observation group was (54.22±3.52) days, which was shorter than (60.55±4.24) days in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The feeding efficiency of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.001). At 2 weeks after intervention and when full oral feeding was achieved, the coordination scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group (P<0.001), and the incidence of adverse physiological events during feeding in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: SSwB-based sequential systematic rehabilitation training can effectively improve feeding coordination and tolerance, shorten feeding transition time, reduce adverse events, and promote growth and development in extremely preterm infants. It is worthy of clinical promotion.

Key words: extremely preterm infants; Sucking-Swallowing-Breathing rhythm; rehabilitation training; time to full oral feeding; feeding efficiency; NICU