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Correspondence

Indian Pediatr 2019;56: 693

Balancing the Covariates in Studies on Enteral Feeding in Preterm Neonates: Author's Reply

 

Manoj Modi

Department of Neonatology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India.

Email: [email protected]  

 


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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