TS group (N=87) | SS group (N=86) | P value | |
Primary outcome | |||
Time to full enteral feeds of 150 mL/kg/day (days)* | 10 (8–16) | 11 (8–16) | 0.920 |
Secondary outcomes | N (%) | N (%) | |
All-cause mortality† | 8 (9.2) | 12 (14.0) | 0.328 |
Definite NEC† | 3 (3.4) | 3 (3.5) | 1.000 |
Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) duration (days)* | 10 (8–16) | 8–15 | 0.693 |
Intestinal transit time (hours)‡ (NA=77, NB=75) | 18 (12–24) | 17 (13–24) | 0.826 |
Length of hospital stay (days)* | 116 (91–136) | 114 (105–137) | 0.750 |
Early-onset sepsis† | |||
Suspected | 84 (96.6) | 82 (95.3) | 0.720 |
Proven | 7 (8) | 4 (4.7) | 0.360 |
Duration of antibiotics (days)‡ | 3 (3–4) | 4 (3–5) | 0.757 |
Late-onset sepsis (SS: 85, TS: 86) | |||
Suspected† | 41 (47.7) | 44 (51.8) | 0.593 |
Age at first episode (days)‡ | 12 (8–27) | 11 (6–26) | 0.606 |
Total episodes‡ | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) | 0.449 |
Duration antibiotics (days)‡ | 8 (4–14) | 5 (3–12) | 0.144 |
Proven† | 15 (17.4) | 21 (24.7) | 0.244 |
Age at first episode (days)‡ | 17 (10–27) | 17 (13–31) | 0.910 |
Total episodes‡ | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–1) | 0.285 |
Duration antibiotics (days)‡ | 7 (5–16) | 8 (4–10) | 0.478 |
Human milk fed† | 87 (100) | 86 (100) | – |
Antibiotic courses | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–6) | 0.696 |
Exposure to antibiotics (days)* | 8 (5–17) | 9 (5–10) | 0.820 |
Age probiotic commenced (days) | 3 (2–4) | 3 (2–4) | 0.772 |
Duration of probiotic supplementation (days) | 71 (63–80) | 70 (63–87) | 0.545 |
Discharge anthropometry | |||
Weight z-score§ | −0.70 (0.98) | −0.72 (1.06) | 0.922 |
Length z-score§ | −0.88 (1.35) | −1.28 (1.76) | 0.144 |
Head Circumference (HC) z-score§ | −0.09 (1.9) | −0.17 (1.2) | 0.745 |
PN growth restriction† | 17/85 (20) | 15/83 (18.1) | 0.750 |
*Data represent median and 25th–75th percentile Kaplan-Meier survival estimates,.
†Number and percentages.
‡Median and IQR.
§Represents data as mean and SD.
NEC, necrotising enterocolitis; PN, parenteral nutrition; REF, reference; SS, single strain; TS, triple strain.