China: Early enteral feeding (EEN) after intestinal anastomosis is safe in newborns with congenital gastrointestinal malformation, finds a recent study in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

Congenital gastrointestinal malformations – such as jejunoileal atresia, duodenal obstruction,and meconium ileus – among neonates are often treated with primary intestinal anastomosis.

Intestinal anastomosis is a surgical procedure that establishes communication between two formerly distant portions of the intestine.

Jiakang Yu, Guangdong Women and Children's Hospital, Guangdong, China, and colleagues aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of early enteral feeding following intestinal anastomosis in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal malformation.

For the purpose, the researchers conducted a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial between 2018 and 2019. Four centers in China analyzed 156 newborns of congenital gastrointestinal malformation undergoing intestinal anastomosis. They were randomized to either EEN group (n = 78) or control (C) group (n = 78).

The primary outcomes of this study were length of postoperative stay (LOPS) and time to full feeds. Secondary outcomes included morbidity of complications, feeding intolerance, parenteral nutrition (PN) duration, 30-day readmission rate, and 30-day mortality rate.

"Early enteral feeding following intestinal anastomosis in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal malformation is safe," wrote the authors. "Post-operative outcomes demonstrated a trend toward improvement."

Reference:

The study titled, "Early enteral feeding versus traditional feeding in neonatal congenital gastrointestinal malformation undergoing intestinal anastomosis: A randomized multicenter controlled trial of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) component," is published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

DOI: https://www.jpedsurg.org/article/S0022-3468(21)00209-8/fulltext