Probiotics for Preterm Neonates for Prevention of Necrotising Enterocolitis

Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal emergency that is associated with high mortality and morbidly especially in extremely low birth weight neonates. The burden of NEC is very high due to prolonged hospitalisation, and cost of surgery. Since the treatment is mainly supportive, prevention is the only option. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. Systematic reviews published by our group (Deshpande et al, Lancet 2007 & Pediatrics 2010) before commencing this doctorate research have shown the potential of probiotics in prevention of NEC and mortality. Aims of this research included 1) establish the evidence-based guidelines to use probiotics 2) introduce routine use of probiotics and perform before and after cohort study 3) evaluate the effect of routine probiotics on gut and tracheal microbiome in very preterm neonates (