{"title":"Exclusive enteral nutrition in preterm infants: How early is too early?","authors":"Ariel A Salas, Shalini Ojha","doi":"10.1016/j.siny.2025.101631","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the growing availability of maternal and donor milk, neonatal feeding practices are undergoing significant transformation. Increasingly, neonatal units are prioritizing exclusive enteral nutrition soon after birth, a shift that represents a substantial advance in neonatal care. However, critical questions remain regarding the implementation, safety, and long-term outcomes of this approach. This review consolidates the evidence supporting early and exclusive enteral nutrition, exploring its potential to redefine neonatal care practices, particularly in high-resource settings. By examining challenges such as variability in practices, resource constraints, and clinical decision-making during acute illness, this discussion aims to provide a roadmap for integrating these practices into routine care and advancing outcomes for preterm and vulnerable infants.</p>","PeriodicalId":49547,"journal":{"name":"Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"101631"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.siny.2025.101631","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PEDIATRICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
With the growing availability of maternal and donor milk, neonatal feeding practices are undergoing significant transformation. Increasingly, neonatal units are prioritizing exclusive enteral nutrition soon after birth, a shift that represents a substantial advance in neonatal care. However, critical questions remain regarding the implementation, safety, and long-term outcomes of this approach. This review consolidates the evidence supporting early and exclusive enteral nutrition, exploring its potential to redefine neonatal care practices, particularly in high-resource settings. By examining challenges such as variability in practices, resource constraints, and clinical decision-making during acute illness, this discussion aims to provide a roadmap for integrating these practices into routine care and advancing outcomes for preterm and vulnerable infants.
期刊介绍:
Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine (formerly Seminars in Neonatology) is a bi-monthly journal which publishes topic-based issues, including current ''Hot Topics'' on the latest advances in fetal and neonatal medicine. The Journal is of interest to obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists.
The Journal commissions review-based content covering current clinical opinion on the care and treatment of the pregnant patient and the neonate and draws on the necessary specialist knowledge, including that of the pediatric pulmonologist, the pediatric infectious disease specialist, the surgeon, as well as the general pediatrician and obstetrician.
Each topic-based issue is edited by an authority in their field and contains 8-10 articles.
Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine provides:
• Coverage of major developments in neonatal care;
• Value to practising neonatologists, consultant and trainee pediatricians, obstetricians, midwives and fetal medicine specialists wishing to extend their knowledge in this field;
• Up-to-date information in an attractive and relevant format.