Introduction of enterprise risk management in neonatal intensive care unit to reduce breast milk errors.

Preterm infants born before 34 weeks gestation are unable to feed by mouth. Mothers of these preterm infants are thus asked to pump breast milk to be fed to infants through a nasogastric tube. Each mother's pumped breast milk must be carefully labelled and stored so that it is not fed to the wrong baby during the infants stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, which can range from days to months. All hospitals have strict policies and procedures in place to ensure infants are fed their mother's milk but still occasional errors are reported. We looked at the effect of introducing the enterprise risk management method in preventing breast milk errors in our neonatal intensive care unit.

Adding dietary green beans resolves the diarrhea associated with bowel surgery in neonates: a case study.

Feeding intolerance is a common problem in infants who have had multiple or extensive resections of their small bowel. Chronic malabsorption and diarrhea are common side effects that inhibit the advancement of enteral feedings and prolong dependence on parenteral nutrition (PN). Poor growth, recurrent central line infections, cholestasis, and osteopenia are well-known complications associated with long-term PN dependency. It has been shown that, in adults with short bowel syndrome, providing dietary fiber can improve tolerance to enteral feeding. There are no published studies that have addressed the influence of dietary fiber on feeding intolerance in infants after bowel resections. The ensuing case studies illustrate the positive outcomes of fiber use in infants with diarrhea secondary to small bowel resections.

Reduced lymphocyte-mediated antifungal capacity in high-risk infants.

Premature and critically ill infants are highly susceptible to Candida albicans. This study evaluated the lymphocyte-mediated antifungal capacity of infants relative to birth weight, prematurity, and illness severity. Growth inhibition of C. albicans by lymphocytes from preterm and low-birth weight infants was significantly reduced, compared with full-term and normal-weight infants. Lymphocyte growth inhibition of C. albicans is dependent on cell adhesion to the fungus. Compared with full-term infants, lymphocytes from preterm infants had a reduced capacity to adhere to C. albicans. Furthermore, infants with greater severity of illness (score for neonatal acute physiology [SNAP], >or=10) exhibited significantly reduced lymphocyte-mediated antifungal capacity and fungal adhesion. Although gestational age, birth weight, and SNAP were significantly associated with lymphocyte-mediated growth inhibition and adhesion, stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that gestational age best predicted both lymphocyte growth inhibition of and adhesion to the fungus.