Clinical data and laboratory values at admission in the two groups
| Oral group | Intravenous group | |
|---|---|---|
| Results are expressed as median (range). | ||
| *p=0.038, **p=0.034 compared with oral group. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to the other variables. | ||
| No of babies | 24 | 20 |
| Sex (% male) | 54.2 | 70.0 |
| Gestational age (weeks) | 39 (35–42) | 37 (28–41)* |
| Birth weight (g) | 3000 (900–4200) | 2500 (900–3400)** |
| Age at time of study (weeks) | 6.0 (1–26) | 6.5 (1–12) |
| Weight at time of study (kg) | 3.8 (1.8–5.7) | 3.2 (1.7–5.0) |
| No. less than 10th centile for weight | 15 (56%) | 16 (80%) |
| Serum bilirubin (normal, 3–20 μmol/l) | 136 (46–438) | 153 (36–288) |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (10–50 IU/l) | 140 (32–1768) | 168 (23–558) |
| Alkaline phosphatase (30–150 IU/l) | 484 (213–893) | 602 (214–1853) |
| γ Glutamyl transferase (5–55 IU/l) | 175 (30–1073) | 298 (15–1830) |
| International normalised ratio (0.7–1.2) | 0.90 (0.76–1.17) | 0.90 (0.74–1.08) |