Neonatal exchange transfusions at a tertiary care centre in north India: an investigation of historical trends using change-point analysis and statistical process control.

Background: The need for exchange transfusion (ET) as a treatment modality for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia declined in developed countries with the advent of effective phototherapy. The trends of ET from India are unknown. Our objective was to investigate the trends of ET in India.

Methods: Retrospective data (January 2006-December 2016) was collected on total outborn neonatal admissions and ET procedures from a centre in north India. A combination of change-point analysis (CPA) and statistical process control (SPC) was used to investigate the trends of ET.

Results: During the study period, a total of 39 217 outborn neonates were admitted and 1575 (4%) underwent 1816 ET procedures. The CPA unravels four critical change points (October 2009, May 2011, September 2011 and November 2014) in ET rates. An SPC chart showed a decline in mean ET rate from 89.3 (upper control limit [UCL] 176.9, lower control limit [LCL] 1.7)/1000 neonatal admissions at the start of the study to 7.7 (UCL 34.6, LCL 0)/1000 at the end of the study. The greatest decline in ET rate was witnessed in October 2009, from 89.3 (UCL 176.9, LCL 1.7)/1000 neonatal admissions to 34.8 (UCL 87.1, LCL 0)/1000 neonatal admissions.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated a progressive decline in the number of neonatal ET procedures over 11 y.