Does rapid enteral feeding increase intestinal morbidity in very low birth weight infants? A retrospective analysis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association of a standardized rapid enteral feeding strategy (established in 2011 in our unit) with intestinal morbidity in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. METHODS: A total of 301 inborn VLBW infants were included in this single-centre retrospective cohort study. We compared the incidence of intestinal morbidity (defined as necrotizing enterocolitis or intestinal perforation) in slowly enterally fed infants in 2008-2010 (10 ml/kg/day increase of milk feeds) to a corresponding cohort of rapidly enterally fed infants in 2011-2013 (20 ml/kg/day increase of milk feeds). Univariate and multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses, respectively, were performed to control for confounding variables. RESULTS: Both groups were similar regarding baseline demographic and perinatal characteristics. In univariate modeling, intestinal morbidity did not significantly differ between the two groups (p = 0.25), neither did all-cause mortality nor incidence of late onset sepsis in multivariable modeling. In contrast, length of hospital stay (HS) and duration of parenteral nutrition (PEN) were significantly shorter in the rapid group (HS: -8.35 days, p = 0.012 and PEN: -7.13 days, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a more rapid enteral feeding regime is safe in VLBW infants and may significantly shorten length of HS and PEN in this cohort.