Oral diatrizoate acid for meconium-related ileus in extremely preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal disorders are common in very low-birthweight infants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of prophylactic oral Gastrografin® (diatrizoate acid) on meconium-related ileus (MRI) in extremely preterm infants.

METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study of infants born extremely preterm at <28 weeks of gestation and treated with diatrizoate acid (prophylactic group) or not (control group) in the periods 2007-2014 and 2000-2009, respectively. In the 2007-2014 period, 120 infants received prophylactic diatrizoate acid solution. From the 165 infants in the control group, we selected 120 infants matched for gestational age. Cases of death before 72 h of life or congenital abnormalities were excluded. Intestinal disorders, time until full enteral feeding, duration of hospital stay, mortality rate, and neurodevelopmental outcome were compared.

RESULTS: MRI occurred in six infants in the control group and in none of the infants in the prophylactic group (P = 0.039). Median time until full enteral feeding was 25 versus 22 days (P < 0.01), hospital stay was 142 versus 126 days (P < 0.01), and mortality rate for infants aged 24-27 weeks was 8.2% versus 0% (P = 0.021), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic oral diatrizoate acid reduced MRI in extremely preterm infants without side-effects and decreased the mortality rate of infants born at 24-27 weeks, and is thus beneficial in extremely preterm infants.