Fat supplementation compared to control for promoting growth in preterm infants

Patient or population: preterm infants
Setting: two neonatal units in Sweden
Intervention: fat supplementation of human milk
Comparison: unsupplemented human milk

Growth ‐ weight ‐ weight gain (g/kg/day)

‐

14
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 2}

Growth ‐ length ‐ length gain (cm/week)

‐

14
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 2}

Growth ‐ head circumference ‐ head growth (cm/week)

‐

14
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 2}

Neurodevelopmental outcomes

‐

‐

‐

None of the included studies reported on neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Duration of hospital admission (days)

‐

‐

‐

None of the included studies reported on duration of hospital admission.

Feeding intolerance

RR 3.00
(0.1 to 64.3)

16
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 3}

.

Necrotising enterocolitis

‐

‐

‐

None of the included studies reported on necrotising enterocolitis.

*The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI).

CI: confidence interval; RR: risk ratio; OR: odds ratio;

GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High certainty: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect
Moderate certainty: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different
Low certainty: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect
Very low certainty: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect