Preterm Infants May Better Tolerate Warmer Feeds (Prematurity)

Ege University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Feeding Disorder Neonatal; Prematurity

Treatments: Other: Room temperature; Other: Warmer temperature

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03743207

EGE20121284

Details and patient eligibility

About

Feeding intolerance is frequent among preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Although there are many studies about enteral nutrition strategies and content in preterm infants, no evidence-based standards exist for the optimal milk temperature for preterm infants. Therefore, in this study the investigators aimed to examine the effects of feeding temperature and the possible morbidities.

Full description

Feeding intolerance is one of the most frequent problems among preterm infants. These infants are fed with expressed breast milk or preterm formulas of which the temperature is not routinely measured. In this study, the investigators aimed to examine the effects of feeds with warm versus room temperature milk in preterm infants. Infants with a birth weight of ≤1500 g or gestational age of ≤ 34 weeks were included in the study and assigned to two different feeding temperature groups (22-24°C and 32-34°C). Some infants in both groups were exclusive breast milk fed and some received artificial milk. Feeding tolerance of patients in both groups and the consequences were evaluated.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 1 to 30 days old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Infants born to birth weight of ≤1500 g
• Infants born to gestational age of ≤ 34 weeks

Exclusion criteria

• Genetic syndrome
• Gastrointestinal system anomalies
• Patients born small for their gestational age

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Room temperature

Experimental group

Description:

All of the infants in neonatal intensive care units are used to be fed with milk at 22-24°C which is close to room temperature.

Treatment:

Other: Room temperature

Warmer temperature

Experimental group

Description:

The investigators decided to feed the infants in this group with warmer milk at to examine the effects of feeding temperature.

Treatment:

Other: Warmer temperature