A sweet solution for infant transfusions?

What is this research about?

Premature infants often require red blood cell (RBC) transfusions to manage anemia of prematurity. However, there is some evidence that RBC transfusions may be associated with necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating and potentially deadly disease affecting the intestines. Feeds are often stopped before, during and after transfusion to try to reduce the chance of this disease occurring. Unfortunately, this practice comes with other risks. Most importantly, stopping feeds around the time of a transfusion places the infant in danger of developing low blood sugar levels. To avoid this high-risk situation, the infant may also need intravenous infusions of dextrose (sugar) solution.

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