Study On The Physical Development Of Premature And Very Low Birth-weight Babies Using An Arithmetic Progression Method Of Enteral Nutrition

Enteral trace nutrition of premature and low birth-weight babies is a kindof feeding using less than10-20mL/(kg·d)of milk in the early phase after theirbirth. To be more exact, the feeding should begin as early as possible, normally2hours (no later than24hours) after birth. The very low birth-weight babiesmainly refer to premature babies with birth weight less than1500g andgestational age within32weeks. Such babies are usually lack of sucking abilityand swallowing reflex ability. Moreover, their gastrointestinal track is not fullyfunctional. Last but not least, their intrauterine glycogen reserves areinadequate. Therefore, they need outside help to intake sufficient heat topromote physical development and improve their quality of life. Based on ourlong-term clinical work and studies, we find that the traditional method inwhich we evenly distribute the amount of enteral nutrition has deficiencies inthe catch-up growth of extremely low birth-weight babies. For instance, suchmethod can give rise to gastrointestinal tract immature, higher intolerance rate,delayed enteral nutrition support, hindered organic development and higherhospital infection incidence. In order to overcome such problems, we havedeveloped a new method of enteral nutrition. We hope that this new methodwill overcome the deficiencies of traditional method and guide the futureclinical work more effectively.Purpose:study the effects of different enteral feeding methods on the physicaldevelopment of premature and very low birth-weight babies.Methods: To begin with, select59premature and low birth-weight babies who arehospitalized from June,2010to December,2010according to a certain standard(their1minute’s and5minutes’ Apgar evaluation scores are both larger than7)and randomly divide them into two groups of the same number. One iscontrastive group and the other is observational group. Then, based on dailyintravenous nutrition, feed each baby8times per day according to their dailyweight (15ml/kg), both in the first group and in the second group. In the firstgroup, feed each baby with equal amount of nutrition every3hours. In thesecond group, feed each baby with an increasing amount of nutrition every3hours according to the arithmetic progression formula (Sn=n(a1+an)/2，an=a1+(n-1)d).Use random number table to divide specimens randomly into two groups；use t-test for qualitative data analysis and chi-square test for quantitative dateanalysis；use repeated measurements for analysis of variance；use SPSS17.0software for statistical data analysis.Results(1) In terms of gender, gestational age and Apgar evaluation, p>0.05, thedifference is not statistically significant.(2)In terms of the weight of the third week, p<0.05, the difference isstatistically significant.(3) In terms of the weight of head circumference and height of the thirdweek, using repeated measurements for analysis of variance and getting themeasurements of different time, p<0.05, the difference is statisticallysignificant.(4) Compared with the first group, in the observational group, themeconium excretion time and the duration of the tube is much shorter, withp<0.05, and it is statistically significant. It also indicates that the time of fullamount of nutrition through mouth is also much shorter in the second group, p<0.05, and the difference has statistical significance.(5) In terms of abdominal distension, p>0.05, the difference is notstatistically significant.(6) In terms of the feeding intolerance rate and the amount of intragastricresiduals, the latter is much lower, p<0.05, the difference is statisticallysignificant.(7) In terms of jaundice continuous time and weight recovery time, thelatter is much lower, p<0.05, the difference is statistically significant.Conclusions:Feeding premature and very low birth-weight babies with equal differenceincreasing amount of nutrition has the following advantages:(1) making their head circumference, weight and height develop accordingwith the normal curve in the uterus, and reducing weight recovery time,meconium excretion time and jaundice continuous time.(2) reducing the duration of the tube and the time of the full amount ofnutrition through mouth; improving the Gastrointestinal function and themature of metabolism.