Effect of Zinc Gluconate Supplementation on Weight Gain in Preterm Infants with Very Low Birth Weight

Abstract

Objective: To know the effect of zinc supplementation on weight gain on premature newborns with very low birth weight. Material and Methods: Randomized, blinded clinical trial, assigned to two groups: with zinc supplementation and placebo.Both with milk intake higher than 100ml/kg/day. We evaluated the absolute and relative growth speed, comorbidities, hospital stay and adverse reactions. We used Student´s t-distribution for the comparison of continuous variables, Mann-Whitney U test for nonparametric variables, X2 for categorical variables, and simple regression analysis for absolute and relative growth rate. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: We studied 56 patients, 28 in each group. The growth speed was higher in the supplemented group from the second week of treatment. The absolute and relative growth rate was 20.23±2.8g/day and 19.63±5.1g/kg/day in the zinc group and 17.13±3.5 g/day and 15.22±3.0g/kg/day in the placebo group, with p=0.0003 and 0.0001 respectively. The absolute and relative growth speed increased 3,104g/day (95%CI: 1,414-4,793) and 4,407g/kg/day (95% CI: 2,132-6,683) more in patients with zinc. There were no differences in morbidity or hospital stay and no adverse secondary reactions to the administration of zinc were detected. Conclusions: The administration of zinc produces an increase in the growth rate of premature newborns with very low birth weight.