How delayed full enteral feeding could affect extrauterine growth restriction in a neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective, short-term, observational single-center study.

Abstract

Achieving adequate growth in preterm newborns through enteral feeding is one of the most important aspects of providing medical assistance in neonatal intensive care units due to not only improved outcomes (the prevention of complications such as necrotizing enterocolitis) but also the evaluation of the well-known consequences of adequate weight gain beyond metabolism and cognitive abilities later in life. In our study, we evaluated how the impact of delayed full enteral feeding could influence the entity of extrauterine growth restriction. We retrospectively analyzed the data of preterm subjects from a neonatal intensive care unit anonymous database. We detected significant correlations between delayed full enteral feeding as well as prolonged parenteral nutrition and extrauterine growth restriction. The achievement of full enteral feeding in the shortest possible time may be reasonably considered an important aspect in preterm newborn care.