Application of intermittent gravity tube feeding on very low birth weight infants in NICU

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effects of intermittent nasogastric feeding on neonatal intensive care unit （ NICU） on very low birth weight infants gastrointestinal complications .Methods Two hundred and fifteen very low birth weight infants were randomly assigned to either observation group （ n=106 ） or the control group （ n=109 ） .Infants in the observation group received intermittent gravity tube feeding .Infants in the control group received continuous drip tube feeding .Weight increase , total parenteral nutrition time , length of stay and complication were assessed .Results Observation group of very low birth weight infants when were turned out of the NICU, weight increased to（1 397.0 ±22.10）g, higher than the control group （1 320.0 ± 18.25）g, was statistically significant difference （t=2.26,P〈0.05）;total parenteral nutrition time, length of stay in NICU were （4.94 ±0.70）,（9.69 ±7.19）d,in observation group, were lower than the control group [（4.74 ±0.74）,（11.63 ±4.02）d], differences were statistically significant （t=2.72,4.85,respectively;P〈0.01）.The incidence of abdominal distention , vomiting, diarrhea, upper gastrointestinal bleeding in observation group were lower than the control group , and had statistical significance （P〈0.05）.However, the very low birth weight infants had not occurred necrotizing enterocolitis in two groups .Conclusions Intermittent nasal tube feeding can reduce the complications of enteral nutrition , shorten the time of hospitalizationand increased body weight growth rate . Key words: Very low birth weight infants; Complications; NICU; Gravity tube feeding