Nutritional Support for Moderate-to-Late-Preterm Infants - A Randomized Trial

Area of Science:

• Neonatal nutrition
• Pediatric gastroenterology
• Clinical trial research

Background:

• Moderate-to-late-preterm infants often require nutritional support during the transition to exclusive breastfeeding.
• Evidence-based guidelines for optimizing nutritional strategies in this population are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of specific nutritional interventions in supporting moderate-to-late-preterm infants.
• To assess the impact of parenteral nutrition, milk supplementation, and sensory exposure on infant feeding and body composition.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter, factorial randomized trial involving 532 preterm infants (32-35 weeks gestation).
• Interventions included parenteral nutrition vs. dextrose, milk supplement vs. exclusive breastfeeding, and taste/smell exposure vs. none.
• Primary outcomes were body-fat percentage at 4 months corrected age and time to full enteral feeding.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in body-fat percentage between parenteral nutrition and dextrose groups (P=0.72).
• Exclusive breastfeeding and milk supplementation groups also showed no significant difference in body-fat percentage (P=0.25).
• Time to full enteral feeding was similar for infants with and without taste/smell exposure (P=0.59).

Conclusions:

• Routine nutritional interventions, including parenteral nutrition, milk supplementation, and sensory exposure, did not significantly affect feeding outcomes or body composition in preterm infants.
• These findings suggest current routine practices may not alter key developmental milestones in this cohort.