Intravenous nitrition of babies and infants

Intravenous nutrition of the newborn has, in the past, been troubled with metabolic and infective complications. The metabolic disorders have been minimised with newer solutions and by careful administration, particularly when using infusion pumps. Greater awareness and experience has reduced infection to levels associated with conventional intravenous therapy. Intravenous feeding is now a practical and safe form of therapy for minimising weight loss in newborns who cannot feed by mouth, and may be life-saving in the post-surgical infants and in those with malabsorption syndromes.