[Evidence-based standardized nutrition protocol can shorten the time to full enteral feeding in very preterm/very low birth weight infants].

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether evidence-based standardized nutrition protocol can facilitate the establishment of full enteral nutrition and its effect on short-term clinical outcomes in very preterm/very low birth weight infants.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 312 preterm infants with a gestational age of ≤32 weeks or a birth weight of <1 500 g. The standardized nutrition protocol for preterm infants was implemented in May 2020; 160 infants who were treated from May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020 were enrolled as the control group, and 152 infants who were treated from June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021 were enrolled as the test group. The two groups were compared in terms of the time to full enteral feeding, the time to the start of enteral feeding, duration of parenteral nutrition, the time to recovery to birth weight, the duration of central venous catheterization, and the incidence rates of common complications in preterm infants.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, the test group had significantly shorter time to full enteral feeding, time to the start of enteral feeding, duration of parenteral nutrition, and duration of central venous catheterization and a significantly lower incidence rate of catheter-related bloodstream infection (<0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the mortality rate and the incidence rate of common complications in preterm infants including grade II-III necrotizing enterocolitis (>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of the standardized nutrition protocol can facilitate the establishment of full enteral feeding, shorten the duration of parenteral nutrition, and reduce catheter-related bloodstream infection in very preterm/very low birth weight infants, without increasing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis.