BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Considering the fact that oral feeding is delayed too much in extremely premature infants due to respiratory and digestive problems, these infants usually suffer from severe weight loss and muscular dystrophy in the absence of intravenous feeding. On the other hand, intravenous feeding has several complications such as cholestasis and liver damage. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of intravenous feeding on blood biochemical parameters in premature infants.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 26 preterm infants (gestational age of 27 to 33 weeks and weighing from 800 to 1900 grams) receiving intravenous feeding in Alavi Hospital in Tabriz during the year 2016. Blood biochemical parameters were measured by spectrophotometry with an auto-analyzer apparatus before and after feeding.
FINDINGS: At the end, the activity of alkaline phosphatase (712.86±299.73 vs. 476.04±173.53) and gamma-glutamyl (81.79±46.23±vs. 59.5±5.42) increased significantly and the activity of total bilirubin (1.45±0.79 vs. 7.16±5.04) and direct bilirubin (0.21±0.15 vs 0.49±0.31) showed a significant decrease (p<0.05). However, the changes of aspartate transferase and alanine transferase were not significant at the end of the feeding period. No symptoms of cholestasis were observed in any of the infants.
CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that intravenous feeding has no effect on cholestasis.