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Approximately 15 mil1lion babies are born preterm each year.1 Preterm infants commonly experience postnatal growth failure due to insufficient intake of micro1nutrients. We aim to determine the outcome of preterm neonates that received micronutrients. Methods: The study subjects com1prised of 210 preterm neonates admitted to (SCBU) of Federal Medical Centre, Brinin kebbi, Kebbi State from 1st June 2020 to 30st May, 2022. The subjects were randomized into two groups; 100 preterm neonates (Study group) received micronutrients (Reload; Reload Brands, LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) while, 110 preterm neonates (Control group) did not receive micronutrients. Biodata and other important information were obtained. All the babies (210) received the usual treatment protocol of preterm admitted to our SCBU. Ethical ap1proval was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee. Results: Birth weights of the 210 neonates ranged from 800grams to the highest 2500grams with mean CC –BY 4.0 birth weight of 1.54kg ±0.95. Av1erage daily weight gains in 71% of the study subjects ranged from 25grams to a maximum of 29 grams per day while, in the non- micronutrients group, 54% had daily weight gain range of 10- 14grams per day (p = 0.001). Twelve (12%) of the Micronutrient group (MG) and 30% 0f the Non-Micronutrient group (NMG) had need for blood transfusion respectively (p = 0.002). The average ho sp ital stay wa s 22.95±9.68; hospital stay for the MG was 8 to 21 days while that of the NMG was 22 to 42 days (p = 0.001). C o n c l u s i o n s : M i c r o n u t r i - ents intake were in consistent with optimal weight gain, shorter hospital stay and lower need for blood transfusion in preterm newborns. Recommendations: We recommend early commencement of mi c r o n u t r i e n t s u p p leme n t (Reloads) in preterm babies.
Onankpa et al. (Tue,) studied this question.