Monitoring whole body composition (fat mass and fat‐free mass) in preterm infants may assist in optimizing nutrition and promoting growth and neurodevelopment in the neonatal intensive care unit. Currently, body composition assessment is not part of routine clinical evaluation of premature infants. Instead, weight and length are used to assess growth but are known to be poor predictors of adiposity shortly after birth. Although body composition methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging, stable‐isotope dilution, and dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry, have been examined in infants, they involve exposure to radiation and are invasive, expensive, and/or unsuitable for repeated measurements in a medically fragile population. Several body composition methods with potential for clinical use have been explored in premature infants, including air displacement plethysmography, bioimpedance, skinfold measurements, and ultrasound. In this review, we examine each method and evaluate its feasibility for incorporation into clinical care. Although these methods show promise for use in premature infants, further research is needed before they can be recommended for routine body composition assessment in the clinical setting.

Background Our study examined some of the social and medical factors associated with receiving pain palliation alone over more aggressive cytoreductive palliative measures, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation among patients with head and neck cancer. Methods This retrospective study used the National Cancer Database 2016 for data analysis. Patient and tumor characteristics were examined using bivariate analysis and logistic regression to identify their association with receiving pain palliation alone versus cytoreductive palliation treatment. Results Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, insurance status (odds ratio [OR]: 0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15–0.50, p < 0.001), urbanity (OR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.21–2.46, p = 0.002), and Charlson–Deyo scores greater than 3 (OR: 2.49, 95%CI: 1.38–4.47, p = 0.002) were significantly associated with receipt of pain palliation alone. Conclusions Clinicians should be aware of non‐health‐related factors, such as insurance status, that may influence patients' receipt of treatments in head and neck cancer.

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