Feeding regimens in VLBW infants

Fast food versus slow food in very and extremely low‐birthweight infants: speed of feeds is a little more than a gut feeling

“…Given the controversy surrounding enteral feeding policies in this population and the emergence of new important clinical data on the incidence of NEC, we would like to present our single‐centre experience with slow advancements of enteral feeds in VLBW and ELBW infants, including IUGR infants. Based on a previous outline of our feeding regimen , we would like to add specific data from our study cohort and relate our findings to the most recent concepts in the development and prevention of NEC.…”

“…In cases of suspected NEC, standardised diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms are performed in our unit as previously detailed .…”

“…We included a total of 103 premature infants (69 VLBW and 34 ELBW infants) in our retrospective audit over a two‐year period from January 2009 to December 2010 . Of these, 52 were female and their mean birthweight was 1121 ± 266 g (range: 570–1490, 10–25th percentile) and their mean gestational age was 29 + 4 ± 2.4 weeks of gestation (range 24 + 3–34 + 1).…”