People with cerebral palsy may also develop gastrointestinal problems. These problems may take the form of reflux, constipation, or dysphagia.
People with dysphagia have trouble swallowing. They can also experience pain while swallowing. This pain may make it near impossible for them to swallow foods or even liquids. Eating then becomes a challenge. Often, dysphagia makes it difficult to take in enough calories and fluids to nourish the body. This in turn may cause failure to thrive, resulting in slow or improper growth.
A person with cerebral palsy who has severe gastrointestinal problems may need a feeding tube in order to eat. If a feeding tube is needed for only a short time, it is usually inserted into the person's nose and passed into the stomach. For long-term tube feeding, a gastrostomy tube can be inserted directly into the stomach through an opening in the abdomen (also known as a G-tube). The research provided below deals with various ways doctors are attempting to alleviate the gastrointestinal issues that a lot of people with cerebral palsy have.
