Abstract
To evaluate whether glucose gel as a supplement to feedings in infants admitted to the newborn nursery at risk for neonatal hypoglycemia (NH) reduces the frequency of transfer to a higher level of care for intravenous dextrose treatment. We revised our newborn nursery protocol for management of infants at risk for NH to include use of 40% glucose gel (200 mg/kg). Study population included late preterm, small and large for gestational age infants, and infants of diabetic mothers. We compared outcomes before (4/1/14-3/31/15: Year 1) and after (4/1/15-3/31/16: Year 2) initiation of the revised protocol. Our prospective primary outcome was transfer to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for treatment with a continuous infusion of dextrose. NICU transfer for management of NH fell from 8.1% in Year 1 (34 of 421 at-risk infants screened) to 3.7% in Year 2 (14 of 383 at-risk infants screened). Rate of exclusive breastfeeding increased from 6% in Year 1 to 19% in Year 2. Hospital charges for the study population decreased from 801,276 USD to 387,688 USD in Year 1 and Year 2, respectively. Our study supports the adjunctive use of glucose gel to reduce NICU admissions and total hospitalization expense.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.