• Liang Gao, Wei Shen, Fan Wu, Jian Mao, Ling Liu, Yan-Mei Chang, Rong Zhang, Xiu-Zhen Ye, Yin-Ping Qiu, Li Ma, Rui Cheng, Hui Wu, Dong-Mei Chen, Ling Chen, Ping Xu, Hua Mei, San-Nan Wang, Fa-Lin Xu, Rong Ju, Zhi Zheng, Xin-Zhu Lin, Xiao-Mei Tong, and Chinese Multicenter EUGR Collaborative Group.
• Department of Neonatology, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
• Nutrition. 2023 Mar 1; 107: 111912111912.

ObjectivesThe management of enteral nutrition in very preterm infants (VPIs) is still controversial, and there is no consensus on the optimal time point after birth at which enteral nutrition can be started. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of early initiation of enteral nutrition on the short-term clinical outcomes of VPIs.MethodsData of infants (n = 2514) born before 32 wk of gestation were collected from 28 hospitals located in seven different regions of China. Based on whether enteral feeding was initiated within or after 24 h since birth, the infants were divided into an early initiation of enteral feeding (EIEF) group and a delayed initiation of enteral feeding (DIEF) group.ResultsCompared with the DIEF group, the EIEF group was more likely to tolerate enteral nutrition and had less need for parenteral nutrition (all P < 0.05). The EIEF group was associated with lower incidence rates of feeding intolerance, extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR), and late-onset sepsis (LOS) (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (Bell stage ≥2) between the two groups (P = 0.118). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that EIEF was a protective factor against EUGR (odds ratio [OR], 0.621; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.544-0.735; P < 0.001), feeding intolerance (OR, 0.658; 95% CI, 0.554-0.782; P < 0.001), and LOS (OR, 0.706; 95% CI, 0.550-0.906; P = 0.006).ConclusionsEarly initiation of enteral feeding was associated with less frequency of feeding intolerance, EUGR, and LOS, and it may shorten the time to reach total enteral feeding without increasing the risk of NEC.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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