Parenteral nutrition via peripheral veins in newborn infants
Hertel, J.; Andersen, G.E.
Danish Medical Bulletin 25(6): 264-267
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0907-8916 PMID: 102490 Document Number: 130810
For 2 to 48, median 8 days, 40 seriously ill newborn infants were fed parenterally through a peripheral vein. There was no thrombotic or septic complication. A frequent metabolic complication in small premature infants was hyperosmolar hyperglycaemia causing urinary losses of glucose and sodium; in one infant this might have contributed to a fatal intracranial haemorrhage. In another child parenteral feeding might also have played a role in the development of hepatocellular necrosis. The study is presented to re-emphasize that thrombotic and septic complications can be avoided by the use of peripheral veins, whereas the avoidance of metabolic complications seems to demand closer monitoring and even stricter criteria for parenteral feeding of newborn infants.