Research Article: Efficacy and Safety of Enteral Human Recombinant Insulin to Reduce the Time to Full Enteral Feeding in Preterm Infants: A Meta-Analytical Study
Abstract:
Recombinant human insulin plays an important role in the gut maturation of preterm infants. This meta-analysis was carried out to assess the efficacy and safety of enteral recombinant human insulin in decreasing the time to full enteral feeding in preterm infants. The pooling of data from four clinical trials yielded a significant decrease in the time to full enteral feeding in preterm infants under both low (Mean difference [MD] ?3.43 days; 95% CI: ?6.18 to ?0.69 days; I2 = 48%) and high doses of insulin (MD ?7.10 days; 95% CI: ?10.02 to ?4.18 days; I2 = 0%). These findings require confirmation by further large trials that evaluate the efficacy and safety of enteral insulin, especially at supraphysiological doses.
Introduction:
A preterm birth is categorized as the birth of a baby before 37 weeks of gestation [1]. Around 15 million children are born prematurely every year, representing a worldwide rate of 11% [2,3]. Preterm infants often have low birth weight and feeding problems associated with immaturity of the gastrointestinal system. The full development of the gastrointestinal tract, including motor development and lactase activity, typically occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy [4]. As a result, preterm infants may require…
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