Introduction The developing gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the largest and most active immune organ of the body and supports important endocrine and exocrine roles in addition to its role for digestion. It encompasses a large mass of neural tissue that…
Key points 1. Optimization of the delivery of nutrition to the high-risk infant is essential for ideal growth and development. 2. Standardizing nutrition guidelines based on the current best evidence leads to reduced risk of infection and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC),…
Key points 1. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a poorly defined umbrella diagnosis for what is more likely a heterogenous group of acquired neonatal intestinal injuries. 2. Multiple criteria exist for NEC, of varying sensitivities and specificities. However, much of the…