Study of Clinical Profile of Late Preterms at Tertiary Care Hospital, Bangalore

In spite of concerted efforts to decrease prematurity, the total and late preterm birth rates have been increasing during the past decade, raising concerns about the reasons for such trends. Higher rates of induced deliveries and cesarean births have also caused concern about their collective impact on morbidity and health care cost. Most of the studies on late preterms were done in the United States. Hence this study was done to present the characteristics of late preterm neonates bom in our hospital settings and to identify the major issues of these neonates we are facing. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to present the characteristics of late preterm infants in our settings To identify the major problem issues in late preterm infants in our hospital settings. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: In a tertiary health care centre at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore at Neonatal division in the Department of Paediatrics. Study population: 100 late preterm neonates born during the study period at Manipal hospital. Methodology: The clinical profile of each late preterm neonate in the study was recorded and data was prepared.Summary: In our study it was noticed that late preterm neonates had high rates of morbidity, common problems noticed are hyperbilirubinemia, feeding problems, respiratory distress and hypoglycemia.Most late preterm neonates required admission to NICU. Late preterm neonates required prolonged duration of hospital stay and had high rate of readmission to the hospital. ACRONYMS: NICU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit AGA-Appropriate for Gestational Age SGA - Small for Gestational Age LGA - Large for Gestational Age IUGR-Intra Uterine Growth Retardation NVD- Normal Vaginal Delivery LSCS - Lower Segment Caesarean Section TTN-Transient Tachypnea of Newborn RDS - Respiratory Distress Syndrome PPHN - Primary Pulmonary Hypertension PPROM - Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes PIH - Pregnancy Induced Hypertension NG feeds - Naso-Gastric feed