Ready-to-use parenteral nutrition in a preterm infant with necrotizing enterocolitis and related complications: case report

Abstract

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a very aggressive, destructive and sometimes lethal disease, which mainly affects infants born with severe prematurity. These patients need a complex multidisciplinary approach. The clinical course is often long and complicated, and nutritional approach should ensure a balance between the need for nutrients and the risk of complications. We describe the case of a preterm female infant born at 24 weeks and 5 days of gestational age transferred to our intensive care unit for NEC complicated with intestinal perforation. Subsequently, she developed short bowel syndrome. In terms of nutrition, the baby was treated with the use of standard parenteral nutrition (PN) solutions for preterm infants, which were prescribed immediately after passing the critical and metabolically unstable phase of disease. It was possible to use these standard PN solutions also during a period of cholestasis and after the hospital discharge. The use of ready-to-use bags with standard solutions for PN in preterm infants complicated with surgical pathology is possible, feasible, safe and effective; it is recommendable to perform periodic clinical and laboratory evaluations.