Routine versus Selective Fortification of Human Milk with Powdered Human Milk Fortifiers in Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Preterm Infants: A Retrospective Pre-Post Cohort Study
Agrawal, G.; Wazir, S.; Kumar, S.; Yadav, B.Singh.; Balde, M.
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 65(5): 439-445
2019
ISSN/ISBN: 0142-6338
PMID: 30544244
DOI: 10.1093/tropej/fmy074
Accession: 066001998
The objective of this study was to show the effects of routine vs. selective fortification of human milk (HM) on short-term growth and metabolic parameters. Single-centre retrospective pre-post cohort study in India. Preterm infants ≤32 weeks' gestation and weighing ≤1500 g were included. Routine fortification: pre-fixed feed volume (100 ml/kg/day in our unit) at which fortification was done. Selective fortification: feed volume was gradually optimized till 180-200 ml/kg/day. If weight gain was below the expected threshold (<10 g/kg/day), then fortification was considered. Primary outcome measure was rate of growth till discharge. The median rate of weight gain (g/kg/day) in the routine fortification group [10.8 (3.3, 17.1)] was comparable with that in the selective fortification group [8.4 (0, 14.2), p = 0.6]. Serum phosphorus showed a significantly higher value (5.9 vs. 4.8, p = 0.03), while rest of the metabolic parameters showed a trend towards a favourable outcome in the selective fortification group. Adverse outcomes showed a trend towards decreased feed intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis, and sepsis in the selective fortification group. Selective fortification had a comparable growth rate and showed a trend towards better metabolic parameters and lesser adverse outcomes compared with routine fortification of HM.