Trial Comparing Iron Supplementation Versus Routine Iron Intake in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Comparador activo: multivitamin with iron

daily oral multivitamin providing 2mg/kg of iron

Suplemento dietético: Iron Supplement

multivitamin that provides 2mg/kg/day of iron given orally to infants when they are tolerating 120 ml/dg/day of preterm formula or fortified breast milk until they reach 36 weeks adjusted postmenstrual age.

Otros nombres:

• suplementos de hierro

Comparador de placebos: multivitamin without iron

daily oral multivitamin without iron

Suplemento dietético: multivitamin

daily oral multivitamin without iron until 36 weeks adjusted postmenstrual age

Otros nombres:

• Multivitamin without iron

Hematocrit (Hct) at 36 Wks Post Menstrual Age (PMA)

For infants discharged home prior to 36 wks PMA, the last Hct was used.For infants transferred prior to 36 wks PMA, the Hct at receiving hospital was used if available. A non-parametric rank sum analysis was performed as follows so that infants who died before 36 wks and those transfused could be included in an intention-to-treat analysis.Infants were ranked by death (lowest rank) then by number of transfusions (next lowest ranks). For infants who survived and were not transfused, the 36 wk PMA Hct was used as the primary outcome.

Number of Participants Who Received Red Cell Transfusions During Intervention Period

The numbers below represent the number of participants in each arm that received a transfusion during intervention period.