Weight gain in newborns following the adoption of the stoma refeeding technique

Neonates with high-output stomas will be treated with chyme recycling through a standardised protocol. It includes the use of a novel device purposefully designed for this procedure. The device consists of a valve connected to a 5 ml syringe and a stoma bag. The valve will prevent the reinfused chyme from flowing back to the stoma bag. Patients will have their distal stoma limbs catheterised. The Catheter will be used by the clinical team (trained nurses) will reinfuse part of the chyme output from the proximal limb. The goal is to reinfuse as much enteric content as possible. The amount of chyme being discarded will be recorded. Each participant will experience the intervention four to six times a day on average. A secondary outcome that will be studied is the impact of the intervention on distal stoma atrophy, which may reduce anatomical incompatibility, thus reducing complications following the restoration of bowel continuity. This feature may give the rehabilitation characteristic of the device. The study will last for the duration of the neonate stay in the NICU. The adherence to the protocol will be followed by a researcher, who will visit the participants and will be in close contact with the clinical team. If any potential complications possibly from the interventions arise, they will be discontinued. Instead, the patients will be offered the standard treatment which includes chyme recycling using repurposed materials. If they cannot tolerate the procedure, they will be offered parenteral nutrition and the enteral material will be discarded.