The Effect of Intranasal Breast Milk Administration on Cerebral Oxygenation, Vital Signs and Time to Full Oral...

Intranasal breast milk administration is perceived as a promising intervention in preterm infants.

The aim of this paper is to present a protocol for a study whose aim is to evaluate the effects of intranasal breast milk administration in preterm infants.

The study was planned as a randomized controlled experimental design. The study will be conducted with preterm infants between 28⁰-36⁺⁶ gestational age in the NICU of Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine Hospital in Konya, Türkiye. The study sample will consist of 40 preterm infants. Intranasal breast milk administration will be administered to the infants in the intervention group three times a day for three days. Intervention group will receive a total of 0.2 ml of breast milk intranasally in each application. Control group will not receive any intervention, including placebo. Cerebral oxygenation levels and vital signs will be recorded at four time points during each intervention session: before the intervention, and at the 5th, 15th, and 30th minutes after the intervention. Time to full oral feeding of preterm infants will continue to be monitored after the intervention period.

The measurements of the study outcomes will be evaluated using the "Infant Information Form", "Physiologic Parameter Follow-up Form" and "Nutrition Follow-up Form" developed by the researchers.

This study is expected to provide findings on the potential effects of intranasal breast milk administration on physiological stability, cerebral oxygenation, time to full oral feeding in preterm infants.

This study is expected to contribute to the literature by determining the effect of intranasal breast milk administration in preterm infants and provide valuable findings for future studies.

The study protocol was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06706115).