All participants were given routine rehabilitation treatment by professional rehabilitation therapists, including exercise therapy, guided education, psychological therapy, acupuncture and massage therapy, to promote the development of motor and cognitive function, as well as to improve intellectual development. Besides, swallowing function training was also provided, including direct training, indirect training, and compensatory training.Within 4 hours of admission, the observation group were required to undergo nasogastric tube removal and initiated Intermittent Oro-Esophageal Tube Feeding for nutrition support.

All participants were given routine rehabilitation treatment by professional rehabilitation therapists, including exercise therapy, guided education, psychological therapy, acupuncture and massage therapy, to promote the development of motor and cognitive function, as well as to improve intellectual development. Besides, swallowing function training was also provided, including direct training, indirect training, and compensatory training.The control group was given nutrition support with persistent nasogastric tube feeding , of which the tube passed through the nasal cavity into the stomach.

All participants were given routine rehabilitation treatment by professional rehabilitation therapists, including exercise therapy, guided education, psychological therapy, acupuncture and massage therapy, to promote the development of motor and cognitive function, as well as to improve intellectual development[. Besides, swallowing function training was also provided, including direct training, indirect training, and compensatory training, as follows The mendelson maneuver: performed 5 days per week, twice per day, 5-10 minutes each time.

Cold stimulation of the pharynx: performed every day, twice per day, 3-5 minutes each time.

Passive head extension: to stretch the submental muscle for 2-3 seconds, with upward resistance applied to the lower cheek for no less than 5 times a day and no less than 5 minutes each time.

Direct feeding training: with powdered milk, once a day, 5 days a week.](streamdown:incomplete-link)

The Oral Motor Assessment Scale was a reliable and accurate scale. It consists of seven items compromising oral-motor skills. The assessment was conducted with the child in comfortable supported sitting with the head neutral position. The caregiver was allowed to feed the child one of the following foods normally: fed with a spoon soft food as yoghurt, a solid food as cookie or fed a liquid food with a glass, with/without a straw. The assessment primarily focused on feeding with 5 types of food (mash, semi-solids, solids, cracker, and liquid bottle/cup). Throughout the assessment, the examiner didn't interfere with the way the caregiver fed the child but just observed and scored each item of feeding process including chewing, sucking and swallowing. Each item of The Oral Motor Assessment Scale takes 30 second to be scored as passive (0), sub-functional (1), semi-functional (2) and functional (3). The final score was positively proportional to swallowing function.

The number of cases of pneumonia in the two groups was respectively recorded at admission and after treatment. The criteria for pneumonia are: the presence of respiratory infection symptoms such as cough, sputum, fever, and confirmation of inflammatory manifestations by lung CT.