Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association
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Multicenter Study
Retinopathy of prematurity practices: a national survey of Canadian Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
To examine current level three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) practices related to ROP screening and treatment. ⋯ Despite national guidelines, significant variation in ROP screening inclusion criteria practices exist among neonatal units in Canada. Therefore, there is an urgent need for better evidence-based screening guidelines as well as a need to standardize supportive measures surrounding ROP screening and treatment.
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Judicious use of antibiotic therapy in preterm infants is necessary as prolonged and unwarranted use of antibiotics have been associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. ⋯ This multiphase QI initiative was able to reduce the overall AUR at our NICU. The beneficial impact of this decrease in AUR in preterm infants remains to be determined.
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Point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) is increasingly used especially in emergency and critical-care medicine. It is focused, quick and does not expose patients to ionizing radiation. It encompasses all organ systems and has well-defined indications. ⋯ One of the main barriers to the more extensive use of the ultrasound technology is a lack of efficient and attractive training solutions followed by the structured quality-check assurance. In an effort to help bridge this gap, based on the most current literature, we developed creative and intuitive neonatal LUS algorithms. We hope they can serve as a clinical imaging guidelines and a valuable complement to the history and physical exam.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Antenatal methadone vs buprenorphine exposure and length of hospital stay in infants admitted to the intensive care unit with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Antenatal exposure to methadone or buprenorphine often causes neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in newborns. However, comparative effects on affected infants' hospital courses are inconclusive. We sought to estimate the relationship of antenatal exposure with methadone or buprenorphine and infants' length of stay among hospitalized infants with NAS. ⋯ Among infants born ⩾36 weeks' gestation with NAS, antenatal buprenorphine exposure was associated with a decreased length of stay relative to antenatal methadone exposure.
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Multicenter Study
Caffeine decreases intermittent hypoxia in preterm infants nearing term-equivalent age.
To determine whether intermittent hypoxia (IH) persisting after 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) can be attenuated using caffeine doses sufficient to maintain caffeine concentrations >20 μg ml-1. ⋯ Caffeine doses of 14 to 20 mg kg-1 day-1 were sufficient to maintain caffeine concentrations >20 μg ml-1 and reduce IH in preterm infants at 36 to 38 weeks PMA.