Essential fatty acid deficiency during parenteral soybean oil lipid minimization

Objective:to determine if parenteral lipid minimization in infants results in essential fatty acid (efa) deficiency.study design:prospective study of infants >30 days old and >34 weeks postmenstrual age receiving parenteral lipid minimization (<1.5 g kg–1 per day) with either soybean oil or fish oil and >90% of total nutritional intake parenterally in the 14 days before a serum efa sample. nonparametric tests were used for statistical analyses with significance at 0.05.results:fifteen samples on soybean oil and nine on fish oil were included. energy and macronutrient intakes and weight gain were similar between groups. biochemical efa deficiency occurred in 60% receiving soybean oil but none receiving fish oil (p<0.01). average daily weight gain was 49% less in efa deficient infants than efa sufficient infants (p=0.02).conclusion:infants on lipid minimization with parenteral soybean oil, but not fish oil, are at high risk of biochemical efa deficiency with slower weight gain.