Improved weight gain in very-low-birth-weight infants after the introduction of a self-created computer calculation program for individualized parenteral nutrition.

Background: Although 90% of babies <1500 g (very-low-birth-weight or VLBW) are appropriate for gestational age (AGA) at birth, almost all are small for gestational age at 36 weeks of gestation, mainly due to nutritional deficiency in the first weeks of life. A computer calculation program (CCP) to calculate parenteral nutrition (PN) was introduced to improve nutritional intake in preterm infants.

Methods: Somatometric data and composition of PN of VLBW infants were compared with two points of time measured over a period of 4 years.