Oral supplementation with probiotics in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Study answer

What this study found

Overall, BB536-LGG did not improve gastrointestinal tolerance to enteral feeding in the full cohort. On the primary endpoint, more than 50% of calories were received enterally on day 14 in 57.8% of the probiotic group versus 57.1% of placebo recipients (P = 0.95), and time to full enteral feeding was not significantly different overall. A prespecified subgroup of infants weighing more than 1000 g showed faster attainment of full enteral feeding with probiotics, with median 16 days versus 19 days in placebo (P = 0.04; pooled analysis P = 0.038). Probiotic strains colonized the gut in treated…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants treated in two French NICUs.

Intervention

Very-low-birth-weight preterm infants received an oral probiotic supplement containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium longum BB536, delivered enterally as 4 capsules daily.

Key limitation

The trial was relatively small and likely underpowered for several clinical outcomes, especially subgroup analyses.

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Original abstract