ArticlePediatric quality & safety
A Quality Improvement Intervention to Reduce Necrotizing Enterocolitis in premature infants with Probiotic Supplementation.
Article in Pediatric quality & safety. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality improvement interventions to prevent neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: a systematic review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Prophylactic Probiotic Supplementation for Preterm Neonates-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nonrandomized Studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Pooled it
- Incidence of probiotic sepsis and morbidity risk in premature infants: a meta-analysis.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Analysis of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 ® and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on underweight and malabsorption in premature infants.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Probiotics for prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis: Where do we stand?Seminars in perinatology · 2023Review
- Bench to bedside - new insights into the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2022Review
- A quality improvement initiative to standardize time to initiation of enteral feeds after non-surgical necrotizing enterocolitis using a consensus-based guideline.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2022Article
- Low technology, mild controlled hypothermia for necrotizing enterocolitis treatment: an initiative to improve healthcare to preterm neonates.European journal of pediatrics · 2021Article
- Safety and efficacy of probiotic administration to preterm infants: ten common questions.Pediatric research · 2020Review
- [Colombian Guideline for the Use of Probiotics in Pediatric Diseases].Acta gastroenterologica LatinoamericanaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal inflammatory disease due to multifactorial causes that present in preterm infants. Compared with similar neonatal intensive care units, our NEC rate was increasing and prompted reduction by a quality improvement (QI) intervention.
methodsWe aimed to reduce NEC rate by 30% by the end of 2016. We used the Institute of Healthcare Improvement model and typical QI tools, including teamwork, process organizing tools, and evidence-based review, to assist in our selection of supplementation of
resultsNEC rates decreased from 4.4% to the current 1.7%, and in a pre/post-intervention analysis, the results were significant in all patient subcategories. We did not demonstrate a reduction in mortality. No adverse events occurred. Feeding intolerance episodes and days nil-per-os decreased with no differences in growth at discharge. These results continued over 2 years, and this practice has already spread to several neonatal intensive care units in Ontario, Canada.
conclusionsWe utilized QI methods and tools to implement a successful practice change of routine probiotic supplementation to reduce NEC rates in preterm infants. We suggest considering this intervention as a successful means to prevent this serious illness.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.