title: A randomized control trial comparing two enteral feeding volumes in very low birth weight babies.
abstract: Poor post-natal growth of preterm neonates is common and fortification is recommended. However, this is not always practical in low-resource areas. Hypothesizing that increasing the volume of feeds would be safe and lead to better post-natal weight gain, we randomized 64 babies with birth weight <1500 g, once they reached full feeds, to continue feeds at 200 ml/kg/day (standard volume) or increase to 300 ml/kg/day (high volume) of expressed breast milk. There was a significantly higher daily weight gain in the high-volume group as compared to the standard volume group (24.9 vs. 18.7 g/kg/day, p < 0.0001). There were no differences in complications like feed intolerance, tachypnoea, sepsis, patent ductus arteriosus or necrotizing enterocolitis. High-volume feeds at 300 ml/kg/day was safe and resulted in better weight gain than standard volume feeds in very low birth weight babies.
authors.affiliation: Neonatology Unit, Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore 632004, India. niranjan@cmcvellore.ac.in
authors.forename: Niranjan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Anish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherian
authors.forename: Sridhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santhanam
authors.forename: Atanu Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jana
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome