LAUSR

BACKGROUND Parenteral and enteral nutrition are essential for both growth and development of preterm infants. Based on the results of many studies, the rate of nutritional growth and the amount of substrate delivered parenterally are under debate. OBJECTIVE The main aim of this study was to assess parenteral nutrition in very and extremely immature preterm infants, i.e. very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight <1500g) and extremely low birth weight (ELBW, birth weight <1000g) neonates, and to compare the amount of parenterally delivered substrate in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to current German guidelines. METHODS Retrospective audit at our tertiary NICU at the University Children's Hospital of Saarland, Homburg, Germany between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010. RESULTS In total, 100 premature neonates were included. The mean gestational age was 29.6 weeks (range 24.4-34.1 weeks) and the mean birth weight was 1119 g ± 260 g (range 570 g-1490 g). Comparing the amount of fluids, glucose, amino acids, lipids and kcals with the current guidelines of the German Society for Nutritional Medicine in preterm infants, only glucose was adequately given; however, a substantial number of weight-dependent (more often in ELBW neonates) episodes of hyperglycemia requiring insulin treatment were also seen. During the first 3 weeks of life a substantial drop in body weight, length and head circumference occurred in our study cohort. In contrast, at 2 years corrected age, catch-up growth was seen in our cohort with anthropometric data now comparable to healthy term infants. Using the Bayley II test for developmental outcome assessment, at 2 years corrected age 78.6% (33/42) of infants demonstrated normal development. CONCLUSIONS This retrospective data analysis demonstrated inadequate provision of parenteral nutrition in our NICU, which was often not in line with current German guidelines. This was associated with inadequate growth in our cohort, most notably during the first 3 weeks of life; however, implementation of current guidelines is impeded by metabolic disturbances in this cohort, most notably in ELBW neonates. Whether adherence to published guidelines will result in better early ex utero growth, and whether this normalized growth pattern will translate into better long-term outcome on a metabolic and neurological level, remains unclear.