Use of topical petroleum jelly for prevention of sepsis in very low-birthweight infants: a prospective, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Emollient therapy is used frequently to prevent nosocomial infection in the management of preterm infants, despite a lack of adequate evidence of its efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of prophylactic whole-body application of pure preservative-free topical petroleum jelly on the incidence of nosocomial sepsis in very low-birthweight (VLBW) infants. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, randomised controlled trial of the application of topical petroleum jelly was conducted. Infants weighing <1250 g at birth and with a gestational age of ≤32 weeks were included. The intervention group received twice-daily topical therapy of 2 g/kg pure, preservative-free topical petroleum jelly until the completion of 34 weeks of gestation. The control group received no topical petroleum jelly treatment. The primary outcome was the incidence of late-onset sepsis during hospitalisation. Other data collected included the pattern of temperature control, weight changes, fluid requirements, serum bilirubin level, electrolyte imbalance and skin condition. RESULTS: Thirty-five infants in the intervention group and 39 in the control group were recruited. Birthweight, gestational age, gender and perinatal variables were comparable in the two groups. There was a trend towards an increased incidence of culture-proven nosocomial sepsis in the intervention group - 19 episodes (54%) in the intervention group vs 16 (41%) in the control group, and an increased rate of NEC - 20% in the intervention group vs 8% in the control group. The intervention group had better skin condition throughout their stay and the incubator ambient temperature was lower in the intervention group in the 1st week of life. The fluid balance of the infants in the intervention group was better, as reflected by their mean (SD) shorter time to regain birthweight [12 (5) vs 14 (6) days], and there were fewer episodes of hypernatraemia in the 1st week of life, although none of these reached statistical significance. However, there was a significantly lower mean (SD) level of maximum hyperbilirubinaemia [157 (40) vs 182 (46) mmol/L, P = 0·02) in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Although prophylactic topical application of pure, preservative-free petroleum jelly brought substantial improvement of skin condition and temperature control, it was associated with a trend towards an increased rate of nosocomial sepsis.

Total parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis and risk factors in preterm infants.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Development of hepatic dysfunction is a well-recognized complication of total parenteral nutrition in preterm infants. Previous studies reported the incidence of total parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis and described possible contributing factors to its pathogenesis, but little is done trying to determine its possible predictive risk factors. The aims of this study was to determine the incidence of total parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis and to develop a possible predictive model for its occurrence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A review of medical records of all very low birth weight infants admitted to neonatal intensive care unit at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between January 2001 and December 2003 was carried out. The infants were divided into two groups: Cholestasis and noncholestasis, based on direct serum bilirubin level >34 µmol/L. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate the statistical significance of risk factors. Receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to determine the optimal cutoff points for the significant risk factors and to calculate their sensitivity and specificity. The level of significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 307 patients were included in the analysis. The incidence of cholestasis in the whole population was 24.1% (74 patients). Infants with cholestasis had a lower birth weight, 735.4 ± 166.4 g vs. 1185.0 ± 205.6 g for noncholestasis group (P < 0.001), whereas the mean gestational age for the two groups was 25.4 ± 2.1 week and 28.9 ± 2.1 week, respectively (P < 0.001). The significant risk factors for the development of cholestasis were birth weight (P = 0.006) with an odds ratio of 0.99 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98, 0.99]; sensitivity of 92%, specificity of 87%; and total parenteral nutrition duration (P < 0.001) with an odds ratio of 1.18 (95% CI, 1.10, 1.27); sensitivity of 96%, specificity of 89%. CONCLUSIONS: A lower birth weight and longer duration of total parenteral nutrition were strong predictive risk factors for the development of cholestasis in preterm infants.

Spontaneous neonatal gastric perforation.

Over a 7-year period (1990-1997) spontaneous gastric perforation was diagnosed in five neonates. The mean gestational age and birth weight were 33/40 weeks and 1.83 kg, respectively. All patients presented with severe abdominal distention and frank pneumoperitoneum on roentgenograms. All perforations were on the anterior wall of the greater curvature and were managed by prompt laparotomy and primary closure of the perforation. No gastrostomy was used, however, peritoneal drainage was used in all cases. There was no mortality or morbidity. An attempt to understand the possible etiology together with a review of the literature is presented.