The strength of correlation between umbilical cord pH and early neonatal outcome

P. Karthikeyan, Madeshwaran Mani, P. Paramanantham, Priya Sekar

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics · 2016 · 11 citations · 0 references

DOIFull text

Open access

Concepts

Abstract

Background: Umbilical artery gas parameters have been used reliably to detect intrauterine asphyxia.Methods: We analyzed umbilical arterial gas parameters in depressed children and compared it with normal children. Results: Nearly one third of depressed babies had low pH. Umbilical cord acidosis correlated with increased incidence in seizures (P=0.000), incidence of HIE (P=0.000), risk of intubation (0.001) and thrombocytopenia (0.008). Overall mortality was one fourth, but a significant association could not be ascertained. Also we can confirm that pH less than 7.00 is significant as per AAP and NNF rather than 7.20, defined by ACOG.Conclusions: We conclude that a decrease in umbilical arterial pH among cases was significantly associated with increased risk of intubation and need for mechanical ventilation, seizures, Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.