Sustaining viability in a pre-gangrenous bowel with midgut volvulus

Midgut volvulus is a condition peculiar to neonates having acute abdomen. The condition is anticipated in any neonate having bilious vomitus and inability to pass stools. This being a surgical emergency does not sanction any time-consuming radiological procedures, thus, history and the clinical picture are sufficient to warrant surgical exploration. A sick neonate in the 2nd week of life presented with all signs and symptoms of midgut volvulus for which he was explored. Exploration gave the outlook of a necrotic midgut along its entire length. No haste was made in resection as it had a fatal prognosis for survival, instead, watchful waiting opted after necessary measures were taken to allow for the resumption of perfusion. Not only the baby survived to undergo a relook laparotomy showing marked improvement but also showed improvement in lab values and started passing stool and tolerating orally after a wait of three weeks post 1st laparotomy. Midgut volvulus leading to seemingly necrotic intestine should be given due consideration by relook surgery. The alternative would be total resection followed by short bowel syndrome, need for an intestinal transplant while being on TPN. This approach gives an immense advantage by giving the gut a fair chance to restore its perfusion by gut rest after de-twisting.

COMPARISON OF PARKIN SCORE AND NEW BALLARDS SCORE FOR GESTATIONALAGE ESTIMATION- PROSPECTIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY

In an infant it is important to know correct gestational age , to evaluate the risk , line of management and mortality and morbidity. Most common used method for gestational age assessment is Ballard's score which includes various parameters and neurologic parameters and difcult to assess in sick neonate where parkin score only uses 4 criteria for assessment of gestational age. This prospective analytical study was conducted to compare new Ballard's score and parkin's score between healthy and sick neonates in tertiary care center

Assessing pupil reaction to light using ultrasound in a sick neonate with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy

Examining pupil reaction to light is an important component of the neurological examination in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) to determine eligibility for therapeutic hypothermia (TH) and as part of serial neurological assessment for prognostication. Pupil examination can be challenging in critically ill infants with generalized edema. In this paper I report a simple technique using bedside point of care ultrasound to examine the pupil reaction to light in an infant with moderate HIE undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.

Management of the sick neonate in the field

The sick foal provides a variety of challenges in ambulatory practice. A problem-based approach allows for the management of multifactorial conditions and the identification of those that require immediate hospitalisation. Diseases that present from birth include congenital abnormalities (atresia of the colon, cleft palate, ventricular septal defects), disorders acquired in-utero (meconium aspiration, pneumonia), those related to gestational age (prematurity and dysmaturity) and those associated with parturition (asphyxia, rib fractures). Disorders that develop in foals that were normal at birth include neonatal maladjustment, sepsis, meconium impactions, neonatal isoeyrthrolysis, bladder rupture, omphalophlebitis and musculoskeletal disorders. Protocols for diagnosis and management applicable to a field setting are described.

Improving Communication Between Health Care Professionals and Parents: A Quality Improvement Initiative

This quality improvement initiative was undertaken in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to improve communication between the HCP and parents related to the sick neonates admitted in NICU as measured by increase in parental satisfaction score from base line (34.5%) to 80% in 3 months time. A team was formulated to evaluate the reasons for low parental satisfaction resulting from communication between HCP and the parents of sick neonates and to further plan strategies for improving the same. Multiple PDSA cycles were implemented. The results of the all PDSA cycles were discussed amongst team members. Satisfaction of parents related to communication with HCP increased to more than 80% in 3 months time followed by increase up to 90% in sustenance phase. Multiple simple feasible interventions led to improvement in communication between the HCP and parents as evident by increase in satisfaction score (40.8 ± 4.3 vs. 40.8 ± 4.3 vs. 91.3 ± 4.8, p < 0.001). There was significant improvement in the satisfaction scores of the mothers on communication related to sick neonate in NICU at the end of intervention phase as well as in the sustenance phase. Multiple simple doable and feasible interventions had led to the improvement in communication between the HCP and parents hence improving the satisfaction of parents related to their communication with HCP.

Acute Kidney Injury in Sick Neonate: Incidence and Outcome

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important clinical problem in sick neonate. In most patients, AKI accompanies with a predisposing factor such as sepsis, asphyxia and surgery. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence, associated contributing factors and short term outcome of AKI in hospitalized newborn infants.Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study was done in Dhaka Shishu Hospital from March 2011 to September 2011. This study included 300 sick neonates admitted during the study period. AKI was defined when serum creatinine level >1.5 mg/dl and BUN was >20 mg/dl on two separate occasions at 24 hours apart. Oliguria was defined as urine output <1ml/kg/ hr. Medical records of those patients were reviewed and data were analyzed using SPSS software.Results: Fourteen babies (4.66%) out of 300 sick neonates had AKI, of whom 64.2% were male and 35.7% female. The term and preterm neonates were 71% and 29% respectively. While a normal birth weight was observed in 57% cases, 35% had low birth weight and 7.14% had very low birth weight. Sepsis was the most common (71%) association of AKI, followed by perinatal asphyxia (52%). All patients had more than one predisposing factors. Frequency of oliguric kidney injury was 57% and non-oliguric was 43%. Mortality among the hospitalized neonate with AKI was 21%.Conclusion: This study showed that in a tertiary care hospital AKI is not uncommon (4.66%) in neonatal care unit. It is associated with some preventable conditions such as sepsis, perinatal asphyxia and shock. Outcome is poor in sick neonates with AKI (21% mortality) in comparison to sick neonates without AKI (10.3%).J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2017; 35(1): 20-23