Publication:

Etiological profile of respiratory distress in first day of life of a newborn baby

Background Respiratory distress in neonates is one of the important clinical manifestations of a variety of disorders of the respiratory system and non-respiratory disorders. It has been estimated that 40-50% of all the perinatal deaths occur following respiratory distress. The objective of this study was to estimate the proportion of respiratory distress in the new-born period. And know the etiological factors of respiratory distress in first day of life and to study the first day of life morbidity and mortality of respiratory distress in NICU.

Methods All newborn babies admitted to King George Hospital NICU during a period of 1 year from July 2014 to July 2015 who developed respiratory distress in first day of life were studied.

Results The present study is descriptive in nature where clinical spectrum of respiratory distress in neonates and its outcome were studied. 1500 Neonates were admitted in NICU during the study period, among them 200(13.3%) Developed respiratory distress in first day of life. In the overall study 97.5% Survived with 5 deaths. 3 Deaths were due to preterm with RDS, 2 due to CDH. Most of the deaths were due to RDS.

Conclusions MAS was the main cause of respiratory distress followed by RDS in first day of life. Immediate clinical outcome of new-born respiratory distress in term of mortality rate is variable.