"Evaluation of delivery room resuscitation in late preterm and term newborns according to the intensity of resuscitation"

Abstract

The transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life is not achieved smoothly by all newborns; approximately 10% of all births require additional assistance to initiate breathing. We aimed to describe the frequency and extent of delivery room resuscitation in late preterm and term infants with short term neonatal outcomes and we also compared our results according to the intensity of resuscitation. In this single-centre retrospective study, maternal and neonatal data were collected from medical records at Malatya Turgut Ozal University Hospital between January 2021-2022. A total of 181 infants resuscitated at birth were included. The mean gestational age of 38 ± 2 week and mean birth weights of 3169±629 grams. The majority of the newborns were male , and 28 (15.5%) were late premature. Free flow oxygen / CPAP and bag mask ventilation were the most common maneuvers with a frequency of 45.3% and 35.3% respectively. There was no significant difference between the need for advanced delivery room resuscitation and gender, prematurity and presence of small for gestational age or large for gestational age (p>0.05). But when maternal factors were evaluated, the mode of delivery, chorioamnionitis, adolescent mother subgroup, and presence of maternal diabetes were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). In addition, the advanced resuscitation group had lower Apgar scores, and also the rate of asphyxia, birth trauma, pneumothorax and death were higher in this group (p<0.05). In late preterm and term newborns, neonatal outcomes worsen as the intensity of delivery room resuscitation increases.