Neonatal respiratory distress in early neonatal period and its outcome

Abstract

Respiratory distress is one of the most common causes of admission in NICU. The aim of this work was to study the commonest causes of respiratory distress in NICU, analysis of each cause, and to deter-mine the strategic plan needed to improve the outcome of these cases. Patients and Methods: A prospective study was conducted through the period from January 2003 to October 2004. Data were collected from all patients admitted in the unit during this period. Results: Total number of, 855(17.27%) newborn were admitted to NICU, 140 of them developed respiratory distress comprising 16.37% of all NICU admissions and with an incidence of 2.83%. The commonest causes of respiratory distress in our study were transient tachypnea of newborn (TTN) 57 (40.7%) respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) 24 cases (17.2%), birth asphyxia 16 cases (11.4%) and Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) 13 cases (9.3%). Cesarean section was the most common predisposing factor associated with the development of TTN and RDS (the most 2 common causes of respiratory distress in our study). The overall mortality rate of cases of respiratory distress in our study was 22.86%. Conclusion -the study confirmed the importance of NRD with a frequency rate of 2.83%, morbidity of 5% and mortality of 22.86% of cases. The causes, risk factors and immediate outcome were determined and discussed. Some recommendations were suggested in order to reduce its frequency, morbidity and mortality