Effects of probiotics on feeding intolerance and early growth and development of preterm and very low birth weight infants / 中华健康管理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the effects of probiotics on feeding intolerance and early growth and development of preterm and very low birth weight infants (VLBWI).Methods:A total of 446 patients with VLBWI were enrolled in Henan Children′s Hospital from March 20, 2019 to March 20, 2022. They were divided into breast milk group (119 cases), breast milk+probiotic group (108 cases), formula group (115 cases) and formula+probiotic group (104 cases) according to the feeding mode and whether they received early probiotic supplement or not. The feeding programs of each group were carried out according to the “2013 Clinical Application Guide of nutritional support for newborn infants” and “the feeding guidelines for VLBWI”. On this basis, the probiotic supplement group was treated with Clostridium butyricum powder at a dose of 0.25 g/twice a day for 2 weeks, nasal feeding or bottle administration. The incidence of feeding intolerance, the time of recovery of birth weight, the time of reaching total gastrointestinal feeding, and the time of hospitalization in each group were observed, and the average increment of body mass, head circumference and body length in each group at 28 days after birth were compared.Results:In breast milk group, the incidence of feeding intolerance, total gastrointestinal feeding time, and hospital stay were significantly lower than those in the formula group [40.3% vs 47.8%, (13.2±2.4) vs (14.9±1.9) d, (26.5±7.5) vs (29.8±9.6) d], besides, the average increments of early growth and developmental indexes such as body mass, head circumference, and body length at 28 days of birth were significantly lower than those in the formula group [(15.4±2.7) vs (17.7±3.7) g/d, (5.8±1.0) vs (6.2±1.0) mm/week, (6.8±0.7) vs (7.3±0.8) mm/week], however, the recovery time of birth weight in the breast milk group was significantly higher than that in the formula group [(6.2±1.2) vs (5.3±1.4) d] (all P<0.05). The incidence of feeding intolerance, the recovery time of birth weight, the total gastrointestinal feeding time and the hospital stay in the breast milk+probiotics group were significantly lower than those in the breast milk group [34.3% vs 40.3%, (5.4±1.2) vs (6.2±1.2) d, (10.4±1.9) vs (13.2±2.4) d, (22.9±5.6) vs (26.5±7.5) d], besides, the average increments of body mass, head circumference and body length at 28 days of birth was significantly higher than that in the breast milk group [(17.2±3.5) vs (15.4±2.7) g/d, (6.2±1.0) vs (5.8±1.0) mm/week, (7.2±0.8) vs (6.8±0.7) mm/week] (all P<0.05). The incidence of feeding intolerance, total gastrointestinal feeding time and hospital stay in breast milk+probiotics group were significantly lower than those in formula+probiotics group [34.3% vs 47.1%, (10.4±1.9) vs (15.3±2.0) d, (22.9±5.6) vs (30.4±8.2) d] (all P<0.05), besides, there was no significant difference in the average increments of early growth and developmental indexes between the breast milk+probiotics group and the formula+probiotics group (all P>0.05). There were no significant difference in the above indexes between the formula+probiotics group and the formula group (all P>0.05). Conclusion:Probiotics can improve the clinical outcome of feeding intolerance and promote early growth and development of breast feeding VLBWI.