Nonrandomised interventional study showed that early aggressive nutrition was effective in reducing postnatal growth restriction in preterm infants.

AIM: This study evaluated whether an early aggressive nutrition (EAN) strategy could limit extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) in a cohort of preterm infants.

METHODS: This prospective nonrandomised interventional study was carried out in the neonatal intensive care unit of an Italian hospital from January 2013 to December 2015. The prevalence of EUGR was assessed in 100 infants with a gestational age of ≤34 weeks, 50 after the introduction of an EAN regimen in October 2014 and 50 before.

RESULTS: The prevalence of EUGR at discharge was significantly lower after the introduction of EAN than before for weight (34% vs. 66%), head circumference (22% vs. 42%) and length at discharge (20% vs. 48%). The Z-scores for all measurements were significantly higher after the introduction of EAN. In the EAN group, weight velocity was significantly higher and maximum weight loss and negative changes in the Z-scores from birth to discharge for weight were lower than in the pre-intervention controls. In extremely low birthweight subjects, the weight Z-score and weight velocity were significantly higher in the EAN group than the control group.

CONCLUSION: The use of EAN at a very early age reduced EUGR and improved auxological outcomes in preterm infants.