Abstract

CARRILLO-ARTEAGA, Henry Sergio; VALENCIA-AVENDANO, Jessica  and  OLIVEROS-RUIZ, Lucía. Efficacy of intravenous paracetamol for closure of patent ductus arteriousus in preterm newborns. Acta pediatr. Méx [online]. 2015, vol.36, n.1, pp.18-25. ISSN 2395-8235.

Background: Ciclooxigenase inhibitors such as indometacin and ibuprofen, currently used for closure of the ductus arteriousus (DA) are associated with significant adverse effects on the newborn, so it is important to explore new alternatives of effective and safe treatment. One of these could be intravenous paracetamol. Objective: Evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous paracetamol for the closure of DA in preterm newborns. Material and Methods: We performed a prospective, experimental study, in preterm newborns with echocardiographic diagnosis of hemodynamically persistent ductus arteriousus (PDA), who were administered intravenous paracetamol 15mg/kg/day every six hours for three to seven days. In the follow up of these patients we looked for DA closure and side effects of paracetamol. Results: We included nine preterm newborn with gestacional age and weight mean of 33.2 weeks and 1509 grams respectively. Five patient (55%) had Yeh index ≥ 3 and by echocardiography the mean internal diameter of the DA was 2.81 ± 1.05 mm., with a ratio of left atrium/aortic root (LA/Ao): 1.5 ± 0.32. Closure of DA was detected in eight (89%) patients; closure average time was 3.4 ± 1.7 days. No adverse reactions were detected. Conclusions: Intravenous paracetamol can be an effective and safe alternative treatment for closure of hemodinamically significant DA; however further studies are needed to validate these initial observations.

Keywords : Ductus arteriousus; paracetamol; preterm.

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