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Gastrostomy in Infants With Neonatal Pulmonary Disease

ObjectiveTo report our experience of enteral feeding via gastrostomy in children with severe chronic neonatal lung disease, failure to thrive, and oral aversive behavior after initial hospitalization. PopulationThirteen patients were studied. All children had chronic lung disease of neonatal onset and were severely malnourished. They received enteral nutrition via a gastrostomy at a median age of 13 months (range: 8–35). ResultsZ-scores for weight-for-height increased significantly, from −3.4 to −1.9 after four months of enteral nutrition. Caloric intake increased significantly from 100% to 140% of the recommended daily allowance for age. Pulmonary status remained stable for all patients and oxygenation was normal. There was an aggravation of oral aversive behavior in 7 of the 13 children, especially those children who were ventilated and hospitalized for a long time (median duration: 195 days). The median follow-up of patients after gastrostomy was 30 months (range: 8–54) and only six patients could be weaned from enteral nutrition. ConclusionEnteral nutrition via gastrostomy is efficient, and provides the means to improve caloric intake and nutritional status. Gastrostomy is a safe and convenient technique that should be considered early in the course of treatment for infants presenting with malnutrition related to neonatal pulmonary disease.