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Iqrar Ali Kanhar¹, Sahira Ahsan¹, Saeed Nazir¹, Shehzad Tariq² and Tooba Akbar³

ABSTRACT

Objective: To identify the most common causes of neonatal mortality in NICU of Sheikh Saeed Memorial Hospital.

Study Design: A retrospective study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the NICU Sheikh Saeed Memorial Hospital, from
1^st January 2020 till 31^st December 2020.

Materials and Methods: All inborn neonates admitted in NICU were included in study. A demographic profile was documented, including information such as the gestational age, gender, birth weight, and cause of death. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 Frequency and percentage was computed for all the categorical variables.

Results: From total 3964 neonates, rate of mortality was 180 (4.54%). From 180 neonates who died during study period, 115 (63.9%) were males and 65 (36.1%) were females. Mean gestational age of neonates was 32.37±4.92 weeks. Results presented that mean admission weight was 1.63±.84 Kg. Minimum weight was 0.64 kg and maximum was 3.70 kg respectively. Results of current study showed that most common cause of death was sepsis. 45 (25%) neonates has laboratory confirmed while 41 (22.8%) has culture confirmed sepsis. 33 (18.3%) neonates died because of other causes, 16.1% due to RDS, and 10% due to perinatal asphyexia.

Conclusion: The rate of mortality in neonates admitted in NICU as 4.5% in our study. This research also demonstrates that neonatal sepsis, neonatal RDS and perinatal asphyxia are the primary causes of morbidities in infants, and they are responsible for a high risk of death; however, sequence in which they occur is not the same.

Key Words: Neonatal Mortality, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Sepsis, Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS).

Citation of article: Kanhar IA, Ahsan S, Nazir S, Tariq S, Akbar T. Mortality Pattern of Patients in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Indus Hospital, Karachi. Med Forum 2023;34(2):94-97.