Glucose concentrations in enterally fed preterm infants

Abstract

Objectives Determine the prevalence of glucose concentrations below the Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES) term and late preterm-focused guideline target for mean glucose concentrations (≥70 mg/dL) among preterm NICU infants on full enteral nutrition and assess the impact on monitoring practices. Study design Retrospective cohort study. Results We analyzed 1717 infants who were at least 2 days old and 48 hours after parenteral fluids were discontinued. Glucose concentrations were ≥70, 60–69, 50–59, and p < 0.05). After PES guideline, infants were more likely to have >3 glucose measurements (p < 0.05). Conclusions Glucose concentrations <70 mg/dL are not uncommon among preterm infants receiving full enteral nutrition. Monitoring increased after guideline publication. Applying PES threshold to well-appearing preterm infants may promote increased monitoring and intervention without clear long-term benefit.