Shabbir Hussain.
Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality Pattern in a Tertiary Care Neonatal Unit of a Teaching Hospital.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;10(1):7-11.

Objective: To determine the disease pattern and causes of neonatal mortality in tertiary care neonatal unit of a teaching hospital. Study Design: This descriptive case series. Place and Duration: This hospital based prospective study was conducted from Sep 2011 to Feb 2013 in neonatal unit of Combined Military Hospital Kharian, Pakistan Materials and Methods: All sick admitted neonates were included in study. Information was collected in a predesigned proforma. Each neonate was labeled with at least one diagnosis according to modified Wigglesworth classification. All relevant investigations were carried out for management. Results: Out of 2000 admitted sick neonates, 1275(63.75%) were male and 725(36.25%) female. Morbidity pattern showed share of prematurity 646(32.30%), sepsis 578(28.91%), birth asphyxia 220(11%), meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) 100(5%), congenital malformations 100(5%), Transient tachypnea of newborn (TTN) 100(5%), neonatal jaundice (NNJ) 100(5%), Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) 60(3%), Infant of diabetic mother (IDM) 50 (2.5%) , seizure disorder 36(1.80%) and bleeding diathesis 10(0.50%). Mortality was 17.15% (343cases). Early neonatal mortality was 87.17% (299 cases). Case fatality for prematurity was 26.78%, Birth asphyxia 21.81%, Low birth weight 21.18%, congenital malformations 19%, sepsis 15.22%,MAS 13%, seizure disorder 5.55% and NNJ 1%. Conclusion: Prematurity, low birth weight, neonatal sepsis and birth asphyxia are leading causes of neonatal mortality in our study. Interventions to reduce preterm delivery, low birth weight and birth asphyxia should be planned and implemented by health care managers at community level. Improvements in neonatal care at different levels will definitely reduce the neonatal deaths.

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