The purpose of the study was to determine whether feeding stable prematures at 30 ml/kg/day versus 20 ml/kg/day made a difference in the day birth weight was regained, length of hospital stay, number of days of intravenous fluids, and the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis. This was a prospective randomized study consisting of 150 premature infants: 69 in the treatment group (30 ml/kg/day) and 81 in the control group (20 ml/kg/day). Both groups were started at their respective volume and advanced daily by their assigned volume to a total intake of 150 ml/kg/day. The infants were fed either full strength standard commercially prepared formula or human milk and were changed to either commercially prepared 24 kcal/ounce premature formula or fortified human milk when they reached a volume of 150 cc/kg/day. Infants who were fed at 30 ml/kg/day regained birth weight faster than those fed at 20 ml/kg/day(P<.05). The treatment group reached full calories sooner(P<.05) and had fewer days of intravenous fluids over the entire hospital stay than the control group (P<0.05). The treatment group went home 3.63 days before the control group (p>0.05). There was no difference in the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (chi square p>0.05). In this study, feeding at 30 ml/kg/day decreased hospital costs without increasing morbidity.
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Caple, J., Armentrout, D., Huseby, V. et al. The Effect Of Feeding Volume On The Clinical Outcome In Premature Infants.† 1359. Pediatr Res 41 (Suppl 4), 229 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199704001-01378
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199704001-01378
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