Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Donor Human Milk to Prevent Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Systematic Review

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a costly gastrointestinal disorder that mainly affects preterm and low-birth-weight infants and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality. Mother's own milk is protective against NEC but is not always available. In such cases, donor human milk has also been shown to be protective (although to a lesser extent) compared with formula milk, but it is more expensive. This systematic review aimed at evaluating the cost of donor milk, the cost of treating NEC, and the cost-effectiveness of exclusive donor milk versus formula milk feeding to reduce the short-term health and treatment costs of NEC.

We systematically searched five relevant databases to find studies with verifiable costs or charges of donor milk and/or treatment of NEC and any economic evaluations comparing exclusive donor milk with exclusive formula milk feeding. All search results were double screened.

Seven studies with verifiable donor milk costs and 17 with verifiable NEC treatment costs were included. The types of cost or charge included varied considerably across studies, so quantitative synthesis was not attempted. Estimates of the incremental length of stay associated with NEC were ∼18 days for medical NEC and 50 days for surgical NEC. Two studies claimed to report economic evaluations but did not do so in practice.

It is likely that donor milk provides short-term cost savings by reducing the incidence of NEC. Future studies should provide more details on cost components included and a full economic evaluation, including long-term outcomes, should be undertaken.