Table 5.

Comparison of duration of enteral nutrition (EN), hospital stay, and defecation between the two groups of premature infants.

Group (n)	Total enteral	Intravenous nutrition	Average number of	The average number	Hospitalized
	nutrition time (d)	time (d)	bowel movements per day	of enemas required per day	duration (d)
Observation (185)	10 (7, 14)	10 (7, 14)	2.1 (1.6, 2.8)	0.20 (0.10, 0.40)	23.00 (15.50, 33.50)
Control (185)	9 (7, 14)	9 (6,17)	2.0 (1.5, 2.9)	0.20 (0.10, 0.30)	21.00 (15.00, 31.00)
Z	–0.013	–0.132	–0.937	–1.398	–1.338
P	0.989	0.895	0.349	0.162	0.181