A study on the correlation of abdominal near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring and the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants

Abstract

Objective To study the correlation between abdominal near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring and the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. Method From September 2015 to June 2016, preterm infants admitted to the NICU of our hospital were enrolled in this study. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to monitor the tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) of lower right abdomen of the patients. These preterm infants were assigned into NEC group and non-NEC group depending on whether NEC was developed during hospitalization. The abdominal StO2 within the first week after birth were compared between the two groups. Result A total of 77 infants were enrolled in this study, 18 preterm infants in the NEC group and 59 in the non-NEC group. The gestational age and birth weight of the patients in the NEC group were lower than the non-NEC group.The NEC group had significantly higher incidences of mechanical ventilation, vasoactive agent usage and comorbidity of infection than the non-NEC group (P 0.05). The abdominal StO2 of the NEC group was significantly lower than the non-NEC group (69.0%±5.8% vs 82.8%±6.7%, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that lower abdominal StO2 is an independent risk factor for NEC(OR=0.676, 95%CI 0.548~0.834, P<0.001). Conclusion Abdominal NIRS monitoring may be helpful for the early diagnosis of NEC. Key words: Spectroscopy, near-infrared; Enterocolitis, necrotizing; Abdomen; Infant, premature