Abstract
A sufficient supply of vitamins is essential for growth and development. Little new data has been published in this area during the last 30 years.
Parenteral vitamins are usually administered as a mixture of different vitamins. Some vitamins may adhere to the tubing and/or be degraded by light, whilst environmental humidity and temperature also play a role.
Therefore, the actual amount of vitamins delivered to the patient may be much lower than the intended dose, particularly in the case of retinol (vitamin A) and in premature infants who receive solutions with slow infusion rates. The optimal parenteral vitamin requirements for children and neonates have never been determined.
Moreover, there are just a few multivitamin preparations available for preterm infants and neonates. The available products for infants contain the same relative amount of lipid soluble vitamins despite different pharmacological properties in different preparations (combined water and fat soluble vitamin solution versus only fat soluble vitamin preparation).
Adult formulations containing propylene glycol and polysorbate additives are not recommended for use in infants because of concerns about potential toxicity. Furthermore, there is little data on vitamin needs of children with acute and chronic diseases whose requirements might differ.