Neonatal Enteral Feeding Pumps: A Look at the Marketplace

Proper nutrition is an important part of any patient’s treatment plan, but it is especially important for neonatal patients, as it plays a critical role in the patient’s physiologic development and growth.

To ensure that neonatal patients receive the proper nutrients, clinicians often employ enteral feeding methods. Enteral feeding is the delivery of liquid feeding solutions via a tube into the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of individuals who are unable or unwilling to consume nutrients. It is generally preferred over parenteral (or intravenous) administration because it more closely resembles normal feeding, which can help prevent atrophy of the GI tract. It also has a lower risk of complications than parenteral administration, and its administration sets cost less. (Note, however, that a neonate’s GI tract must be mature enough to digest and absorb carbohydrates, protein, and lipids before enteral feeding can be employed. Normal...