Comparison of volume and frequency advancement feeding protocols in very low birth weight neonates

Authors

  • Afaq Hussain Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan
  • Abdur Rehman Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan
  • Nazia Fatima Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.341.14092

Keywords:

Very low birth weight neonates, Feeding methods.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the outcomes in very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates receiving volume advancement versus frequency advancement feeding protocols.
Methods: This controlled clinical trial was conducted in Children Hospital Multan within duration of 6 months from February 2017 to August 2017. VLBW neonates having weight < 1500 g at the time of birth were included. The protocol for frequency advancement (FA) group was to give 1 ml/kg human or preformula milk after every 8 hours and in volume advancement (VA) group after every 3 hours initially. After three days, in FA group duration of feeds was decreased gradually from 8 to 2 hours and feed volume of 10 ml.kg-1.day-1 until full-recommended dose of feeding i.e. 150 ml.kg-1.day-1 reached. While in VA group, volume of 20 ml.kg-1.day-1 was given until full-recommended dose of feeding reached. Days to achieve full feed, weight gain, and length of hospital stay were primary study outcomes.
Results: Baseline weight of neonates was 1148 (111) grams in VA 1179 (106) grams in FA groups (p-value 0.18). In VA group, full feed was achieved in 11.04 (2.38) days versus 15.76 (2.48) days in FA group (P-value <0.001). Duration of IV fluid therapy were 13.5 (8.4) days in FA group versus 9.4 (7.6) in VA group (p-value <0.001). Moreover weight gain at the end of feeding protocol was significantly higher in VA group 1440 (78) grams versus 1284 (99) grams in FA group (P-value <0.001). Necrotizing entero-colitis occurred in only one neonate that was belonging to volume advancement group.
Conclusion: Volume advancement (VA) feeding is better as compared to frequency advancement (FA) feeding in very low birth weight neonates.


doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.341.14092

How to cite this:
Hussain A, Rehman A, Fatima N. Comparison of volume and frequency advancement feeding protocols in very low birth weight neonates. Pak J Med Sci. 2018;34(1):78-81. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.341.14092

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Afaq Hussain, Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan

Trainee FCPS Neonatal Paediatric Medicine

Abdur Rehman, Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan

Assistant Professor and head of Neonatal ICU.

Nazia Fatima, Children Hospital Complex and the Institute of Child Health, Multan

Senior Registrar Neonatology,

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Published

2018-02-21

How to Cite

Hussain, A., Rehman, A., & Fatima, N. (2018). Comparison of volume and frequency advancement feeding protocols in very low birth weight neonates. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 34(1). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.341.14092