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Indian Pediatr 2019;56: 693 |
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Balancing the Covariates in Studies on Enteral Feeding in
Preterm Neonates: Author's Reply
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Manoj Modi
Department of Neonatology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New
Delhi, India.
Email:
[email protected]
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We appreciate the readers’ critical appraisal of our
study by reader. Maternal antibiotics were administered only for medical
or obstetric indications such as Premature rupture of membranes (PROM),
and chorioamnionitis. The frequency of PROM was comparable in the two
groups. Use of antibiotics was restricted to those who had a diagnosis
of probable or definite sepsis; the proportion of such babies being
43.9% in the aggressive group and 65.9% in conservative regimen (P=0.16).
Delayed cord clamping and use of probiotics were not in practice during
the study period. The low occurrence of NEC rates in the present study
could be due to several reasons. The study enrolled neonates eŠ750 g
birth weight, and none of them were <26 weeks. These are the neonates at
the highest risk of NEC. Further, mortality in the present study was
much higher compared to Vermont Oxford data or ADEPT cohort with few
extremely preterm survivors. Neonates who survived had a mean (SD)
gestation 32 (2.2) weeks compared to those who had died 29 (2.5) weeks.
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