Before each feeding, inside and outside of the tube was cleaned with water. During feeding, the patient should maintain a semi-reclining or sitting position with mouth opened, and the tube was inserted slowly and smoothly into the upper part of the esophagus by medical staffs while the appropriate depth of intubation was checked with the calibration markings on the tube wall. The distance from the incisors to the head part of the tube should be between 22-25 cm. However, the specific depth should be evaluated based on patients' feedback and adjusted accordingly. After insertion, the tail part of the tube should be put into a container full of water and the absence of continuous bubbles indicated a successful intubation. Then, the feeding was to be conducted three times per day with 50 ml per minute and 400-600ml for each feeding.

Within 4 hours after admission, the placement of the feeding tube was conducted by professional medical staffs and after intubation, the tube was secured to the patient's cheek with medical tape. The feeding was conducted once every 3-4 hours, with 200-300ml each time. The total feeding volume was determined based on daily requirements. The feeding content was formulated by the nutritionists based on the patient's condition and relevant guidelines to reach the energy demand as 20-25 kcal/kg/day and protein supplementation of 1.2-2.0 g/kg/day for both two groups. For patients with limited tube feeding compliance, we made appropriate adjustments to ensure that they were not at risk of severe malnutrition as much as possible.

The Standardized Swallowing Assessment Scale is a commonly used tool for evaluating swallowing function. It is widely applied in medical and rehabilitation fields to assess an individual's swallowing ability and the smooth passage of food/liquid through the esophagus. The scale ranges from 18 to 46, with lower scores indicating better swallowing function.