Starting and Increasing Feeds, Milk Tolerance and Monitoring of Gut Health in Significantly Preterm Infants.

Abstract

Approaches to enteral feeding significantly preterm infants' impact short-term outcomes including survival, late-onset sepsis (LOS), and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and neurodevelopmental and later health outcomes. Clinical practice and trial data are dominated by short-term outcomes (NEC and LOS) with limited longer-term outcomes. Strategies maximizing early maternal breast milk (MOM) exposure and duration of MOM use are key given global health benefits of MOM, but few feeding trials use these as outcomes. Current data support colostrum receipt, early introduction, and progression of volumes between 18 and 30 mL/kg/day, without adverse impact on NEC, LOS, or mortality. Little evidence supports choosing between route of gastric tube placement, bolus, or continuous feed delivery. Individual infants may have specific features that require individualized feed management, such as combinations of growth restriction, antenatal blood flow concerns, intensive supportive needs (including inotropes), and large open patent ductus arteriosus, currently poorly represented in feeding trials. Infant tolerance monitoring includes clinical observations (stooling, abdominal size, vomiting) but routine gastric aspiration appears unhelpful. Infants should be monitored biochemically, anthropometrically, and in the future through bedside microbiomics or metabolomics. Units and networks should audit and compare their rates of mortality, NEC, LOS, neurodevelopment, and growth achieved.