Kifah Alqaqa, Fatin Alawaysheh.
Neonatal outcome and prenatal antibiotic treatment in premature rupture of membranes.
Pak J Med Sci Jan ;21(4):441-4.

Aim: To compare the neonatal out come of infants born to mothers with history of PROM who received or did not receive antibiotics before labor. Methods: This study was carried out at Queen Alia military hospital between January 2003 to June 2004, to compare neonatal outcome of babies born to mothers with history of Premature Rupture Of Membranes (PROM) who received or didn`t receive antibiotics before labor. 255 newborns were included in this study. All of them were admitted to neonatal intensive care with septic work up done and intravenous antibiotic started for atleast 3-4 days. These neonates were divided into two groups depending on maternal history of antibiotic intake before labor. Results: The total number of neonates included in the study was 225.The maternal age 25 + 10 years. 140 cases (62%) were premature with gestational age ranging between 28-36 weeks, and 85 (38%) were full term. Neonatal death occurred in 20 cases (14%) due to severe prematurity and its complications. Duration of PROM 18-72 hours in 167 cases (74%), 72 hours -1 week in 43 cases (19%) and >1week in 10 cases (7%).History of antibiotic intake before labor was positive in 110 cases (49%),{ 60 (54.5%) of them had premature labor}, and negative in 115 cases (51%) ,{80 ( 69.6%) of them had premature labor }.The risk of neonatal infection in our study was 4.4% in babies with maternal history of antibiotic intake compared with 11% in those whose mothers didn`t. Conclusion: Antibiotic treatment of women with history of PROM improves neonatal outcome by increasing pregnancy latency and in association with early detection of sepsis and its aggressive management leads to significant improvement in neonatal outcome.

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