Enteral glutamine supplementation for very-low-birth-weight infants decreases hospital costs

Background: There is growing evidence that glutamine may be a conditionally essential amino acid for critically ill patients, including preterm infants cared for in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In a randomized study of 68 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, we found evidence of lower morbidity in a group fed glutamine-supplemented preterm infant formula from postnatal day 3 to day 30 than in a group fed a standard formula. We report here the effects of the glutamine supplementation on hospital costs in these infants. Methods: The costs were analyzed by log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier plots. Results: The median costs for hospitalization, radiology, pharmacy, laboratory, and the NICU, and the median number of utilization units were reduced with glutamine supplementation. Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence for decreased hospital costs in VLBW neonates who receive enteral glutamine supplementation.