Influence of Enteral Nutrition on Occurrences of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Very‐Low‐Birth‐Weight Infants

Abstract

Breast milk should be recommended as a priority for the enteral nutrition of VLBW infants for no <7 days. Enteral nutrition should start early and progress quickly to achieve full enteral feeding; these procedures may help reduce the occurrence of NEC.

Care Given to Newborns Fed by Gastric Tube: Concepts and Practices

“…48 Breast milk is considered to be the best milk for the newborn. 17,23,35 This statement corroborates the data from the systematic review comparing preterm and low birth weight infants with low birth weight and formula infant formula. Mother's milk or donor's milk compared to the formula has lower weight gain and short-term growth, but a reduced risk in the development of NEC.…”

“…1 Nutritional management includes the type of food, when EN should begin, speed of dietary volume progression, administration techniques, and food tolerance assessment. 23 Although EN is usually postponed in high-risk neonates, there is little evidence to justify this approach. 24 The need to rapidly reach total EN in preterm infants with very low birth weight (1,000g to 1,500g) leads to conflicts due to physiological immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract and also due to the occurrence of many comorbidities in the neonatal period.…”

“…Most of the articles that addressed minimal or trophic enteral feeding agree that its administration is important for hospitalized NB, decreasing the time to reach total NR and discharge. 1,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] However, it does not match the results of the comparative meta-analysis in relation to the use of trophic nutrition in the extreme preterm, which did not detect a significant reduction of the time to reach total EN, nor the agility of the hospital discharge, incidence of NEC, infections or cause of mortality. The short-term clinical effect is still uncertain, as is long-term growth and development.…”

Evaluation of Incidence and Characteristics of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

“…Gaitada gizli kan varlığı orogastrik sonda ile beslenen olguların %60-75'inde pozitif olduğundan, NEK tanısında bu bulgu yanıltıcı olabilmektedir ve tek başına tanıyı desteklemez (34 (4). Çalışmalar anne sütü ile erken beslenmenin NEK sıklığı ve ciddiyetini azalttığını göstermektedir (15,(41)(42)(43). Çalışmamız, literatür ile karşılaştırıldığında NEK'li olguların anne sütü ile beslenme oranı yüksek, formula ile beslenme oranı daha düşük idi.…”

Donor Milk Availability in the Neonatal ICU: Surrogate for Change?

“…No question, there is good evidence that feeding donor human milk, as compared with formula, significantly reduces the risk of NEC among VLBW infants: for infants whose mothers are not able to provide their own breast milk, donor milk may be life-saving. 2 Feeding mother's own milk significantly reduces risk of NEC, [3][4][5] and increases in rates of breastfeeding in NICUs were independently linked to decreases in rates of NEC, as described in a (separately published) quality improvement project performed in 11 of the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative NICUs during the time period studied by Dr Kantarowska et al 6 The described "change packet" of this protocol did not directly address donor milk availability, but it is likely that the advocacy, awareness, and education associated with such multifaceted breastfeeding promotion interventions have a ripple effect that opens the institutional door to a formal donor milk procurement policy.…”