en Neonatal Neonatal Original Research Original Research <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Background: </span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Oropharyngeal colostrum priming (OCP) has been proposed as a potential nutritional option for very low birth weight (VLBW) newborns. This study aimed to determine short-term outcomes of early oral colostrum administration in VLBW neonates.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Methods:</b> This open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted on VLBW neonates admitted to Mahdieh Hospital, Tehran, Iran, between February and December 2022. According to the protocol, all eligible neonates were randomized evenly to the intervention group, which received oral colostrum (OC), and the control group, which received no OC. Finally, short-term outcomes of early OC administration were compared between groups using the independent-samples t test, chi-square, and Fisher exact tests. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Results:</b> Of 80 randomized neonates, 37 and 39 from the intervention and control groups entered the final analysis, respectively. Neonates in the intervention and control groups did not significantly differ in terms of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) infection (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.728), sepsis (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.904), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">> 0.999), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.141), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.923), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.633). Furthermore, there was no significant difference between groups considering the time to reach 120 cc/kg feeds (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.557), time to reach birth weight (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.157), length of hospitalization (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.532), and mortality rate (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.628). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Conclusion:</b> The results of our study revealed that despite safety, early OC administration did not improve any of the short-term outcomes in VLBW neonates. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Colostrum, Very Low Birth Weight, Neonate, Breast Milk 35 40 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-8324-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sedigheh Tehranchi drsedighehtehranchi@gmail.com 200319475328460088771 200319475328460088771 No Clinical Research Development Center, Mahdiyeh Educational Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Farzaneh Palizban palizbanfarzaneh@sbmu.ac.ir 200319475328460088772 200319475328460088772 Yes Clinical Research Development Center, Mahdiyeh Educational Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Maryam Khoshnood Shariati Maryam.shariati@ymail.com 200319475328460088773 200319475328460088773 No Clinical Research Development Center, Mahdiyeh Educational Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Naeeme Taslimi Taleghani naeemetaslimi@yahoo.com 200319475328460088774 200319475328460088774 No Clinical Research Development Center, Mahdiyeh Educational Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Arefeh Fayazi arefeh.fayazi@gmail.com 200319475328460088775 200319475328460088775 No Family Health Research Institute, Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Farjami moh.farjami@gmail.com 200319475328460088776 200319475328460088776 No Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran