Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026
Effect of Hyaluronic Acid 35 kDa on an In Vitro Model of Preterm Small Intestinal Injury and Healing Using Enteroid-Derived Monolayers
Published on: July 28, 2022
Emollient therapy for preterm newborn infants--evidence from the developing world
Insights
Topical emollient therapy significantly reduces newborn mortality and hospital-acquired infections in preterm infants. This practice also improves weight gain, offering a promising intervention for low-resource settings.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Public health interventions
- Infectious disease epidemiology
Background:
- Emollient application is a common newborn care practice in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
- This practice may reduce infection and mortality in preterm neonates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the effectiveness of emollient therapy in preterm neonates.
- To assess the impact of emollient therapy on neonatal mortality, infection, and growth parameters.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of studies published up to December 2012.
- Standardized data abstraction and grading using Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) rules.
Main Results:
- Included seven studies and one unpublished trial.
- Emollient therapy significantly reduced neonatal mortality by 27% (RR: 0.73) and hospital-acquired infections by 50% (RR: 0.50).
- Significant increases observed in weight gain (MD: 98.04g) and daily weight gain (MD: 1.57 g/kg/day).
Conclusions:
- Emollient therapy improves weight gain and reduces infection risk and mortality in preterm neonates.
- It is a promising intervention for resource-limited settings.
- Further large-scale trials are needed to confirm effectiveness.
Introduction:
Application of emollients is a widespread traditional newborn care practice in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and may have the potential to decrease infection and consequent mortality in preterm neonates.
Methods:
We systematically reviewed literature published up to December 2012 to identify studies describing the effectiveness of emollient therapy. We used a standardized abstraction and grading format to estimate the effect of emollient therapy by applying the standard Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) rules.
Results:
We included seven studies and one unpublished trial in this review. Topical emollient therapy significantly reduced neonatal mortality by 27% (RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.94) and hospital acquired infection by 50% (RR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.71). There were significant increases in weight (g) (MD: 98.04, 95% CI: 42.64, 153.45) and weight gain (g/kg/day) (MD: 1.57, 95% CI: 0.79, 2.36), whereas the impacts were non-significant for length and head circumference.
Conclusion:
Emollient therapy is associated with improved weight gain, reduced risk of infection and associated newborn mortality in preterm neonates and is a potentially promising intervention for use in low resource settings. Large scale effectiveness trials are required to further assess the impact of this intervention.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Development of Human Microbiota
01:28Development of the Oral Microbiota