OBJECTIVE: To compare mortality and morbidity in extremely preterm (EPT) and/or extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants receiving or not receiving probiotic supplementation. DESIGN: Nationwide, population-based registry study. SETTING: All neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Norway. PARTICIPANTS: All EPT (80%) probiotic use versus low (< 30%) was associated with a reduction in surgical NEC (aOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.86). We found no association between probiotics and sepsis or growth. 5 out of 858 infants (0.58%) exposed to probiotics developed probiotic-associated sepsis, all survived. CONCLUSION: Probiotic supplementation to EPT/ELBW infants was associated with lower all-cause mortality and possibly reduced NEC.
Hapnes et al. (Wed,) studied this question.