“A STUDY TO CORRELATE RISK FACTORS AND OUTCOMES WITH MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY PATTERN OF RESPIRATORY DISTRESS IN NEONATES IN NICU OF A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN RURAL SETUP”
Authors: Shukla Roshan , Piparsania Saurabh , Prashant Swati , Verma Jay 
Published: April 2023

Background: One of the most frequent illnesses in the rst 48 to 72 hours of neonatal life is respiratory distress. The most frequent reason for
NICU hospitalization and the leading cause of morbidity in newborn is respiratory distress. The present study is aimed to determine and correlate
the incidence, risk factors, causes and outcomes of respiratory distress in neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care facility.
Impressive outcomes are achieved when neonatal respiratory illness is diagnosed early and managed with appropriate interventions. Material &
Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted for a period of 18 months in the inborn & outborn NICU of Department of Pediatrics,
Index Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Indore after valid approval from Institutional ethics committee on. 100 babies who presented
with respiratory distress irrespective of their status at time of delivery (preterm, term or post term) and qualied the inclusion criteria were enrolled
after taking written informed consent from the parents/caretakers. Following the admission of the newborn, data were recorded in the predesigned
proforma. Statistical analysis was done with P value <0.05 signicant. Out Results: of 100 babies included in the study, 62 were males while 38
were females. Pulmonary cause was the most frequent cause of respiratory distress in newborn out of which TTNB (33%) was the commonest
followed by RDS (20%). Prematurity (37%), MSAF (18%), Caesarean section against precipitous labour (9.5%), obstruction/non progression of
labour (8%) were the major risk factors to develop. 58% of babies were born via LSCS with MSAF (24.1%), previous Caesarean section (20.7%)
and obstructed labour (13.8%) as the main indications. Under treatment intervention,62 (62%) babies required only Oxygen while 20 babies (20%)
required CPAP and 18 babies (18%) required mechanical ventilation. Morbidity was seen in 34% of newborns with RD which included sepsis,
ROP, IVH, HIE, BPD. Out of 20 deaths,14 babies (70%) were males, and 6 babies (30%) were females. In Conclusion: cidence of respiratory
distress was 9.8% among live births. Transient tachypnea of the newborn is the most common cause of respiratory distress in newborn. Antenatal
risk factors increase the incidence of RD. Risk factors like Prematurity, meconium-stained liquor, cesarean delivered newborns, obstructed labour,
Oligo/polyhydramnios, foetal distress, PROM was associated with respiratory distress in newborns. Prematurity is the most common and most
important risk factor for the development of RD in newborn. There was male predominance & most of the babies were delivered via caesarean
section. Frequency and severity of RD is inversely related to gestational age and birth weight. Early term and preterm babies constituted majority of
the babies with respiratory distress. Most of the babies had mild to moderate respiratory distress with Downe's score between 2-6. RDS was the
most common cause for CPAP and ventilation. The mortality rate was 20% among the respiratory distress cases admitted in NICU, rest 80%
survived. The most common cause of death was RDS. Early diagnosis and identication of causes of respiratory distress in neonate is critical in the
management. The neonatal outcome will improve with efforts made to prevent preterm birth, identify various maternal risk factors and intervene
early with appropriate interventions.