Premature Infants
Conditions
Keywords
tube feeding, premature infant
Brief summary
This clinical pilot trial is being conducted to learn more about the infant's feeding behavior while being fed by indwelling nasogastric tube placement or by intermittent oral tube placement. Healthy preterm infants who are transitioning from gavage to oral feedings via oral intermittent tube insertion may achieve full oral feeds by bottle/breast at an earlier gestational age than infants feeding with indwelling tubes and may be ready for earlier discharge.
Detailed description
Independent feeding is often one of the last competencies that the premature infant must accomplish prior to discharge from hospital. Feeding is a complex task for the premature infant to accomplish and it often takes many weeks for the infant to learn how to feed. Therefore, tube feeding is required for the infant to ingest adequate nutrition during the transition from gavage feeding to oral feeding. Both intermittent oral gavage tube placement and indwelling nasogastric tube placement are acceptable methods for feeding preterm infants. However, it is not known which tube feeding method will support an expedited transition to oral feeding. The choice of using one method over the other is currently based on the individual health care provider's opinion or historical institutional practices and insufficient evidence is available to guide tube feeding practices.
Interventions
PROCEDUREIndwelling nasogastric tube placement
The premature infant is fed with an indwelling nasogastric tube during feeding transition.
PROCEDUREIntermittent orogastric tube placement
The premature infant is fed with an intermittently placed orogastric tube during feeding transition.
DEVICENasogastric tube
Premature infants will be fed with a nasogastric tube in place and their feeding behaviors will be noted till discharge.
DEVICEOral gastric tube
Premature infants will be fed with intermittent orogastric tube placement and their feeding behaviors will be noted till discharge.
Sponsors
University of Manitoba
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
30 Weeks to 33 Weeks
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Premature infants born between 30-33 and 6/7th weeks gestation are an appropriate size for gestational age, are not on Oxygen are of any race, sex and require tube feeding and are less than 34 and 3/7th weeks gestation.
Exclusion criteria
* infants with neurological abnormalities or insults, IVH greater than a grade of two, PVL, birth asphyxia, seizures, cord has less than 7.0 ph, chest compressions, infants who require abstinence scoring, infants with major congenital anomalies or major genetic anomalies that impact feeding ability such as diaphragmatic hernia and cleft palate, major cardiac defects, infants who develop necrotizing enterocolitis, infants who received more than 14 days of intubation or CPAP or oxygen by nasal prongs and infants of diabetic or alcoholic mothers.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Gestational age of the last required tube feed. | Last required tube feed |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Discharge date | Discharge date |
| The amount suckled per day | Discharge date |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed