Effect of Massage on treatment of preterm feeding intolerance: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Over 14.9 million babies are born prematurely across the world every year, and the number is still increasing (Heinonen et al., 2016).Due to immature gastrointestinal function, premature newborns especially those born before 34 weeks, are susceptible to feeding intolerance (FI) (Asadi et al., 2019), and its morbidity could achieve 70% (Ng et al., 2019). Currently, there is no universal definition of FI, the widely accepted one is the following: the gastric residual volume (GRV) was 50% greater than the last feeding volume, with abdominal distension or vomiting (Moore & Wilson, 2011). FI could badly influence newborns' health. During the neonatal period, it may lead to malnutrition, delayed enteral nutrition, prolonged hospitalization, growth restriction and increase the risk of