Evaluation of Short Enteral Nutrition and Monitoring in the Emergency Room for Infants Under 1 Year of Age With Bronchiolitis With Main Nutritional Impairment

The winter epidemic of bronchiolitis in infants poses insurmountable difficulties for the hospital system for the 2022-2023 season globally. These difficulties are linked to the combination of an unusual epidemic intensity and the loss of medical and paramedical caregivers in the hospital leading to the closure of beds since the Covid-19 pandemic. Bronchiolitis in youngest and most vulnerable infants can lead to severe clinical pictures requiring hospitalization. Among them, some infants present exclusively with inability to eat and only require continuous enteral nutrition during their hospitalization.

A service protocol has been put in place in the pediatric emergency room of the Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant for the 2022-2023 season to carry out short enteral nutrition and monitoring before returning home. This outpatient care would aim to reduce the effect of hospital saturation during the winter epidemic of bronchiolitis, increase the comfort and satisfaction of families by allowing less disruption of family life and prevent nosocomial infections.

A retrospective evaluation of the feasibility and effectiveness of this protocol is necessary to rely on this first experience of outpatient management.