NICU management

UNLABELLED: Poor growth and nutrition management in the neonatal period can have a negative impact upon both the short- and long-term outcomes for the infant. Improvements in bioelectrical impedance technology and accompanying licencing agreements now make this enhanced device available for use in infants as small as 23 weeks gestational age. An exploration of this technology and its use is now timely. The aim of the scoping review was to answer the following question: in preterm and sick term infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, how is bioelectrical impedance being utilized, in what situations, and when? The scoping review was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19-32, 2005) framework...

BACKGROUND: With the emergence of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it was essential to determine the impact of this disease on pregnant women and neonatal outcomes. In this study, we present a series of nine cases of pregnant women with COVID-19 disease requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. METHODS: We retrospectively collected clinical data of pregnant women with COVID-19 disease admitted to ICU between September 2020 and September 2021. RESULTS: Most common presenting symptom was cough...

OBJECTIVE: Routine blood gas measurements are common in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD) and are a noxious stimulus. We developed a guideline-driven approach to evaluate the care of infants with sBPD without routine blood gas sampling in the chronic phase of NICU care (after diagnosis at 36 weeks PMA). STUDY DESIGN: We examined blood gas utilization and outcomes in our sBPD inpatient care unit using data collected between 2014 and 2020. RESULTS: 485 sBPD infants met inclusion criteria, and 303 (62%) never had a blood gas obtained after 36 weeks PMA...

BACKGROUND: Counselling of pregnancies complicated by pre- and periviable PROM to reach a shared decision-making is challenging and the current, limited evidence hampers the robustness of the information provided. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the rate of obstetric and neonatal outcomes following expectant management for premature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurred before or at the limit of viability. STUDY DESIGN: Medline, Embase, Cinahl and Web of Science databases were searched electronically up to September 2023...

Epicutaneo-cava catheters are the most widely used central venous catheters in the neonate, but their insertion and management are potentially associated with several complications, both during placement (failure to proceed with the catheter, primary malposition, etc.) and during maintenance (infection, venous thrombosis, catheter dislocation, secondary malposition, etc.). Recent studies have identified methods and techniques that may be effective in minimizing the risk of most of these complications. This paper proposes a structured, sequential insertion bundle-nicknamed "the SIECC protocol" (SIECC = Safe Insertion of Epicutaneo-Cava Catheters)-which includes seven evidence-based strategies which have been proven to increase the safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of the procedure...

BACKGROUND: Research reveals that neonatal pain management in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) is suboptimal. There is limited research that assessed NICU nurses' pain assessment practices in Saudi Arabia. AIM: To assess the nurses' pain assessment practices in the NICU in Saudi Arabia. DESIGN: This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design. SETTINGS: Research was conducted using an online survey. PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: This study was carried out on 65 NICU nurses...

OBJECTIVE: Hyperglycemic mothers and their offspring are at increased risk of various maternal and neonatal complications such as macrosomia, future type 2 diabetes, and metabolic abnormalities. Early diagnosis and individualized dietary management, exercise, and emotional well-being are expected to reduce these risks. The study aims to identify the effect of the Nutrition and Behavior Modification Program (NBMP) on maternal and neonatal outcomes of hyperglycemic mothers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A pre-experimental study was performed among 89 hyperglycemic mothers...

INTRODUCTION: Although the use of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) has many advantages, misplacement can lead to serious life-threatening complications such as pericardial effusion (PCE) and cardiac tamponade (CT). This report aims to describe four cases of CT resulting from misplaced PICC, which were successfully managed. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of neonates who required PICC insertion and had PCE leading to CT in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Children's Hospital 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during the year 2022...

Cardiogenic shock (CS) occurs infrequently in pregnancy and has a high mortality rate. Medical treatment options are few, with limited evidence of efficacy. Temporary mechanical circulatory supports (tMCS) may play a key role in addressing this therapeutic lacuna. We report successfully managing second-trimester CS using an Impella 5.5 micro-axial pump. Our patient presented in the second-trimester with CS. Hemodynamic parameters indicated biventricular dysfunction (low cardiac index, low pulmonary artery pulsatility index)...

Delirium often goes unrecognized in neonates and children because of lack of experience in evaluating behavior and cognition, insufficient awareness of the prevalence, and nondistinctive symptoms in this population. Although there are increasing reports of the presence of delirium in neonates, there are little data to guide the pharmacologic treatment in this population. In this retrospective single-center case series, we present our experience using quetiapine to treat delirium in 9 medically complex neonates...

PURPOSE: To evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). METHODS: Patients who gave birth in our hospital between January 2018 and March 2022 were retrospectively reviewed from the hospital database and patient file records. The study comprised 1686 patients, 54 in the ICP group and 1632 controls. Patients who had ICP after 20 weeks of gestation and were monitored and delivered at our facility were enrolled...

PURPOSE: Few guidelines exist for the perioperative management (PM) of neonates with surgical conditions (SC). This study examined the current neonatal PM in Italy. METHODS: We invited 51 neonatal intensive care units with pediatric surgery in their institution to participate in a web-based survey. The themes included (1) the involvement of the neonatologist during the PM; (2) the spread of bedside surgery (BS); (3) the critical issues concerning the neonatal PM in operating rooms (OR) and the actions aimed at improving the PM...

BACKGROUND: Maternal infection by SARS-CoV-2 may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes and causes pathological changes in the placenta. However, consensus regarding characteristic pathological features is lacking. Researchof the placental histopathology in a cohort of women from Mizoram, India, was conducted to relate the SARS-CoV-2 infection's effectswith pregnancy and its outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The characteristics of 72 pregnant women diagnosed positive for SARS-CoV-2 who eventually delivered at Zoram Medical College Hospital, Mizoram, neonates' well-being, and histopathological features of placentas were studied...

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using umbilical cord blood pH (UC-pH) in combination with APGAR score for neonatal asphyxia, in terms of high-risk pregnancies, compared to using the APGAR score only. Neonatal outcomes and the proportions of patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) were evaluated. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness ambispective analysis study was carried out, comparing (i) UC-pH combined with APGAR score and (ii) APGAR score only in 399 term pregnancies with a high risk for neonatal asphyxia...

BACKGROUND: Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT II) deficiency is a rare inborn error of mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism with autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. Its phenotype is highly variable (neonatal, infantile, and adult onset) on the base of mutations of the CPT II gene. In affected subjects, long-chain acylcarnitines cannot be subdivided into carnitine and acyl-CoA, leading to their toxic accumulation in different organs. Neonatal form is the most severe, and all the reported patients died within a few days to 6 months after birth...

The second stage of labour includes both the passive and active stages, involving expulsive efforts. The management of this phase of labour aims to minimise the maternal and neonatal complications that could be associated with a prolonged active2nd stage, but also to limit medical interventions.On the maternal side, prolonged duration of expulsive effort appears to be correlated with increased postpartum haemorrhage, perineal injury and, in the long term, urinary and anal incontinence. From a neonatal viewpoint, expulsive efforts carry risks of neonatal acidosis, asphyxia, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit and trauma...

BACKGROUND: Extremely premature infants (EPIs) are those less than 32 weeks of gestational age. Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal death and poor prognosis, accounting for 25% of neonatal deaths, with extremely premature births accounting for 50% of all premature deaths. Continuous quality improvement (CQI) improves patient outcomes by changing and optimizing clinical practice including increasing participation of neonatologists in prenatal consultation, maintenance of normal body temperature in preterm infants, early use of pulmonary surfactant, reduction of mechanical ventilation time and intensive breastfeeding to reduce clinically avoidable adverse events...

AIM: Australian neonatal mortality data are collected and shared within collaborative networks. Individual unit outcomes are benchmarked between units and presented in quarterly or yearly reports. Low mortality is commonly interpreted as optimal performance. However, current collected data do not differentiate between death due to severe illness and death following treatment limitation. This study aims to explore the physiological condition immediately before death, and the proportion of deaths attributed to treatment limitation...

OBJECTIVE: To describe perinatal and maternal outcomes of preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM) before 23 weeks' gestation in a national cohort. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: National population based cohort study with the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS), a research infrastructure of all 194 obstetric units in the UK, 1 September 2019 to 28 February 2021. PARTICIPANTS: 326 women with singleton and 38 with multiple pregnancies with PPROM between 16+0 and 22+6 weeks+days' gestation...

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) with or without esophageal atresia (EA) results from maldevelopment of the trachea and esophagus during maturation of the primitive foregut. EA/TEF commonly presents shortly after birth because of increased oral secretions and the inability to advance a nasogastric or orogastric tube to the proper depth. Given that prenatal diagnosis is uncommon and early intervention is important to reduce morbidity and mortality risk, early recognition and diagnosis are imperative. We present a case series of two neonates diagnosed with EA/TEF, type "C" and type "E," born at low-acuity centers, who required transport to a tertiary center for surgical support...