Observation On Feeding And Prognosis Of Neonatal Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Background: While there is no consensus on the optimal time to fast after non-operative necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC)in children,this study reports on the effect of early(< 7 days)and late(≥7 days)refeeding on the outcomes.Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 218 children diagnosed with neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis in the Department of Neonatology,Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University from January 2015 to January 2017.The children were randomly divided into early group and late group.Restarted feeding < 7days was the early group,and restarted feeding ≥7 days after diagnosis of NEC was the late group.The fasting time,hospitalization time,intestinal stenosis,recurrence rate,mortality rate,catheter-related sepsis,duration of parenteral nutrition,parenteral nutrition-related liver disease,and incidence of extrauterine growth retardation were studied and analyzed in the two groups.Results: Among the 218 NEC patients,there were no significant differences in gender,mean gestational age at birth,birth weight,Bell stage,or milk volume between the early refeeding group(n = 116)and the late refeeding group(n = 102).There were no significant differences between the early and late groups in outcomes for NEC recurrence,intestinal stenosis,death,duct-associated sepsis,parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease,and extrauterine growth retardation.There were significant differences in parenteral nutrition duration and length of hospital stay between the early and late groups.Conclusions: There are no standardized guidelines for refeeding children with NEC,and refeeding early(< 7 days)in the non-surgical treatment of NEC does not increase NEC recurrence,mortality,and intestinal stenosis,and can shorten the duration of parenteral nutrition and length of hospital stay.