THE DETERMINANTS OF SHORTER TIME TAKEN TO REACH FULL FEED AMONG EXTREMELY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT NEWBORNS ADMITTED TO LEVEL III NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL

Background: Although extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs) or extremely low birth weight (ELBW)newborns are born they have their third-trimester intrauterine life pertaining to development. During this time, one of the objectives of the NICU staff is to feed the newborn with enough nourishment to reach a growth velocity (GV) comparable to intrauterine GV. Early parenteral & enteral nutrition to ELBW infants during the first twenty-four hrs of life leads to a quick recovery of weight loss, enhanced overall weight growth, and earlier accomplishment of complete enteral feeding. Early & substantial protein administration has also been linked to increased weight gain & brain growth. Aims/Objective: To identify determinants of shorter time taken to reach full feeds among ELBW admitted to level III NICU. Method: It was a retrospective hospital-based study conducted from April 2022 to September 2022 and included 55 ELBW newborns admitted to NICU satisfying the WHO definition of ELBW and categorizedinto group I(<28wks), group II (>28 wks. till 31 wks.). Various determinants like ventilatory support, surfactant therapy, NEC, gestational age (GA), etc. are used for analysis. Results: 55 ELBW analysed their mean gestational age (27±3.1) weeks, Range (25-31 weeks) Mean Birth weight (884±114 gram) Range (500-<1000 gm). There were 2 groups, Group 1 (< 28 weeks) included 28 ELBW who reached full feeding in 16.8±13.8 days whereas 27 ELBW were included in Group 2 who reached full feeding in 13.07±8.5 days. Most of the determinates have P VALUE-0.0 except birth weight(P-0.89) and metabolic factor (P-0.14). Overall, all determinates have an impact the on duration to reach full feed in ELBW. Conclusion: ELBW newborns who require minimal ventilatory support, no surfactant, less association with NEC, IVH, Sepsis, and average gestation age above 28 weeks attained early full feed regain birth weight also decreases hospital stay. Funding source: None. Ethics committee clearance submitted Conflict of interest: None.