Nutritional assessment of infants <1500 g birth weight: Laboratory monitoring

Laboratory test	Frequency
Hemoglobin, hematocrit	After the infant is receiving enteral iron supplementation, measure every 2 weeks until results are stable. Recheck prior to hospital discharge.
Calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase	In infants <1500 g birth weight, measure starting at 5 to 6 weeks of age. Measure weekly until alkaline phosphatase is <600 IU/L and serum phosphorus is >4.5 mg/dL. Once stable beyond these thresholds, no need to repeat.
BUN	Measure in infants with poor growth. BUN <10 mg/dL may suggest the need for more protein intake.
Serum electrolytes	In selected infants (those receiving diuretics, or feeds of unfortified human milk, or limited intake, or slow growth).

BUN: blood urea nitrogen.

Adapted from: Anderson D and E Bacon. Nutrition Assessment. In: Nutrition: Guidelines for Acute Care of the Neonate 26th Ed., Anderson D, Hair AB (Eds), Baylor College of Medicine, Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics. 2018.

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Nutritional assessment of infants <1500 g birth weight: Laboratory monitoring