A Shashidhar1, P N Suman Rao, Saudamini Nesargi, Swarnarekha Bhat, B S Chandrakala. 1. Department of Neonatology, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, India. Correspondence to: Dr Shashidhar A, Assistant Professor, Department of Neonatology, St. John's Medical College, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore 34, Karnataka, India. shashiishere@gmail.com.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To measure the efficacy of a probiotic formulation on time to reach full enteral feeds in VLBW (very low birth weight) newborns. DESIGN: Blinded randomized control trial. SETTING:A tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Southern India between August 2012 to November 2013. PARTICIPANTS: 104 newborns with a birth weight of 750-1499 g on enteral feeds. INTERVENTION: Probiotic group (n=52) received a multicomponent probiotic formulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium longum and Saccharomyces boulardii once a day at a dose of 1.25×109 CFU from the time of initiation of enteral feeds till discharge and the control group (n=52) received only breast milk. OUTCOME MEASURE: Time to reach full enteral feeds (150 mL/kg/day). RESULTS: The mean (SD) time to reach full enteral feeding was 11.2 (8.3) days in probiotic vs. 12.7 (8.9) in no probiotic group; (P=0.4), and was not significantly different between the two study groups. There was a trend towards lower necrotizing enterocolitis in the probiotic group (4% vs. 12%). CONCLUSION:Probiotic supplementation does not seem to result in significant improvement of feed tolerance in VLBW newborns.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To measure the efficacy of a probiotic formulation on time to reach full enteral feeds in VLBW (very low birth weight) newborns. DESIGN: Blinded randomized control trial. SETTING: A tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Southern India between August 2012 to November 2013. PARTICIPANTS: 104 newborns with a birth weight of 750-1499 g on enteral feeds. INTERVENTION: Probiotic group (n=52) received a multicomponent probiotic formulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium longum and Saccharomyces boulardii once a day at a dose of 1.25×109 CFU from the time of initiation of enteral feeds till discharge and the control group (n=52) received only breast milk. OUTCOME MEASURE: Time to reach full enteral feeds (150 mL/kg/day). RESULTS: The mean (SD) time to reach full enteral feeding was 11.2 (8.3) days in probiotic vs. 12.7 (8.9) in no probiotic group; (P=0.4), and was not significantly different between the two study groups. There was a trend towards lower necrotizing enterocolitis in the probiotic group (4% vs. 12%). CONCLUSION: Probiotic supplementation does not seem to result in significant improvement of feed tolerance in VLBW newborns.
Authors: Rebecca L Morgan; Geoffrey A Preidis; Purna C Kashyap; Adam V Weizman; Behnam Sadeghirad Journal: Gastroenterology Date: 2020-06-24 Impact factor: 22.682