Lucia Margarita Guzman Soto*, Angelica Maria de los Reyes Aldana, Ximena Lucia Herazo Ortega, Asterio Andres Herazo Ortega, Oriana Liz Pineda Espitia, Mary Carmen Diaz Bermudez, Rafael Chica Polo, Hector Rafael Pineda Roman and Carlos Mauricio Vergara Lobo
Introduction: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a frequent pathology in newborns (NBs) that generally require attention in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). There are few data about the incidence in Latin America and Colombia since it is difficult to establish a timely diagnosis and hospital records do not contain accurate information. The following descriptive, retrospective and quantitative study analyzes the incidence, clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods and treatment of necrotizing enterocolitis in newborns from a neonatal intensive care unit of a clinic in the city of Montería.
Objective: To determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods and treatment of newborns with NEC hospitalized in the NICU in order to provide therapeutic recommendations.
Material and methods: A descriptive, retrospective study, with a quantitative approach, including 54 medical records of neonates with NEC born in a private clinic in the city of Montería, Colombia and admitted to the NICU between June 2015 and December 2018. The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS and R Studio software.
Results: The global incidence was 4.4%. 77.8% were premature and 22.2% were fullterm newborns. 66.7% developed NEC between the 1st to the 5th day of life. 92.5% of the cases required medical treatment and 4.5% had surgical intervention, the overall mortality was 22.2%.
Conclusions: A history of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy was prevalent in NBs with NEC. There was a higher incidence than that reported in the literature of affected term newborns. The use of empirical antibiotics for a long time was identified as a risk factor. A specific feeding protocol should be established according to the individual risk factors and the perinatal characteristics of the newborn that includes the use of breast milk as the first option.
Published Date: 2022-02-21; Received Date: 2021-12-29
