Erythromycin as a prophylactic prokinetic agent in preterm neonates
| Antimicrobial dose (n = 149) | Low dose (n = 43)26 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patole et al24 | Stenson et al25 | |||||
| Erythromycin | Placebo | Erythromycin | Placebo | Erythromycin | Placebo | |
| Values are median (range) or mean (SD). | ||||||
| FEFs, Full enteral feeds; TPN, total parenteral nutrition; NEC, necrotising enterocolitis; NA, not available; NR, not recorded. | ||||||
| Number | 36 | 37 | 35 | 41 | 22 | 21 |
| Gestation (weeks) | 29 (27–30) | 30 (27–31) | 28 (24–30) | 29(23–30) | 28.6 (2.2) | 29.3 (1.7) |
| Birth weight (g) | 1232 (906–1493) | 1280 (890–1562) | 1025 (590–2300) | 1050 (500–1670) | 1226 (380) | 1355 (228) |
| Age at starting treatment (days) | 5 (3–7.7) | 5 (3–7. 5) | 1 | 1 | NA | NA |
| Time to FEFs after enrolment (days) | 3.9 (3.4–5.9) | 4.3 (3.4–6.8) | 8 (5–12) | 9 (6–14) | 6 (2.3) | 7.9 (3.5) |
| Postnatal age at FEFs (days) | 9.5 (7–13) | 11 (7–16) | 9.72 (5.96) | 11.86 (9.02) | NA | NA |
| Time to regain birth weight (days) | NA | NA | NR | NR | 14.9 (2.6) | 15.3 (16.6) |
| Discharge weight (g) | NA | NA | NR | NR | NA | NA |
| Duration of treatment | Till FEFs or 14 days | Till FEFs or 14 days | 7 days | 7 days | 10 days | 10 days |
| Duration of TPN | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Duration of hospital stay (days) | 43 (30.5–57) | 46 (23.7–69) | NR | NR | NA | NA |
| ⩾Stage 2 NEC | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Cardiac arrhythmia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diarrhoea | NA | NA | NR | NR | NA | NA |
| Late onset sepsis | NA | NA | NR | NR | NA | NA |
| Theophylline toxicity | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA |
| Death | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 1 |