Yelly Oktavia Sari, Syed Wasif Gillani, M. Baidi Bahari, Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman
Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common neonatal gastrointestinal disease with multifactorial etiology among the neonates. We aimed to provide descriptive information about the current prevalence of necrotizing enterocolitis and evaluate the total parenteral nutrition management against the treatment outcomes and clinical complications.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was carried out on necrotizing enterocolitis cases in Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia. Study frame was a five-year retrospective review from January 2003 till August 2007. Universal sampling was employed to collect the data from medical profiles. Ethical approval was made with Ministry of Health, Malaysia and data was analyzed by using SPSS 12®.
Results: By the end of the study period, 46 patients were selected. Majority of the patients were Malays 44 (95.6%) patients. This is followed by Chinese 1 (2.2%) patient and 1 (2.2%) others. Gender distribution was found equally susceptible 22 (47.8%) females and 24 (52.8%) were males. We found that majority 39 (84.8%) of neonates were under the range of ≤ 2500 g. The majority received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) 15 (32.6%) neonates received TPN for more than 14 days, followed by 11 (23.9%) between 6-8 days. Significant relationships were found between gestation age and duration of TPN (<0.001), between birth weight and complication (0.041) and between necrotizing enterocolitis cases and outcomes (0.005).
Conclusion: Providing TPN is wrought with unique potential risks and complications to these fragile infants and calls for a diligent interdisciplinary team approach.
