Enteral Glutamine Supplementation for Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants Decreases Hospital Costs

Background: There is growing evidence that glutamine may be a conditionally essential amino acid for critically ill patients, including preterm infants cared for in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In a randomized study of 68 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, we found evidence of lower mor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition 1998-11, Vol.22 (6), p.352-356
Main Authors: Dallas, Michael J., Bowling, Dan, Roig, Juan C., Auestad, Nancy, Neu, Josef
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Birth Weight
Clinical death. Palliative care. Organ gift and preservation
Enteral Nutrition
Glutamine - administration & dosage
Glutamine - economics
Hospital Costs
Humans
Infant Food - economics
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Very Low Birth Weight
Intensive Care, Neonatal - economics
Length of Stay
Medical sciences
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Summary:Background: There is growing evidence that glutamine may be a conditionally essential amino acid for critically ill patients, including preterm infants cared for in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In a randomized study of 68 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, we found evidence of lower morbidity in a group fed glutamine-supplemented preterm infant formula from postnatal day 3 to day 30 than in a group fed a standard formula. We report here the effects of the glutamine supplementation on hospital costs in these infants. Methods: The costs were analyzed by log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier plots. Results: The median costs for hospitalization, radiology, pharmacy, laboratory, and the NICU, and the median number of utilization units were reduced with glutamine supplementation. Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence for decreased hospital costs in VLBW neonates who receive enteral glutamine supplementation. (Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 22:352-356, 1998)
ISSN:0148-6071
1941-2444
DOI:10.1177/0148607198022006352