Impact of probiotic administration on the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis: A single-centre cohort study

To examine the effect of probiotic administration on the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants.

We conducted a retrospective study examining the incidence of NEC in a cohort of infants that received probiotics compared to those that had not, over an 18-year period in a single centre. Infants were included if they were born <32 weeks' gestation with birthweight <1500 g and survived beyond 72 h. Infants in the probiotic group received either ABC Dophilus or Infloran. The primary outcome was the rate of NEC. The main secondary outcomes were late-onset sepsis and mortality. Differences in these outcomes between cohorts were examined in univariate and multivariate analyses, taking account of confounding variables, reporting adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

805 infants were included in the study. Infants receiving probiotics had a lower risk of developing NEC compared with those that did not (32/419 (7.6%) vs. 14/386 (3.6%); aOR 0.37 (95% CI 0.18-0.74)). There was also a reduction in the late-onset sepsis rate (22.4% vs. 14.2%, aOR 0.52, 95% CI 0.35-0.77) and mortality rate (9.5% vs. 4.6%, aOR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17-0.73).

The administration of a multi-organism probiotic formulation, including Bifidobacteria, to very preterm infants in our unit was associated with a reduced incidence of NEC, late-onset sepsis and mortality.