Contributing factors, complications and immediate outcome of birth asphyxia in a tertiary care centre in Assam

Abstract

: Birth asphyxia is defined by the World Health Organization as the failure to initiate and sustain breathing at birth. Etiological factors include maternal factors like hypertension, chorioamnionitis, diabetes, maternal pulmonary or cardiac disorders, placental factors like abnormal placentation, abruption, infarction, hydrops, uterine rupture, umbilical cord prolapse, entanglement, true knot, compression, abnormalities of blood vessels, fetal factors like anemia, cardiomyopathy, infections, hydrops, neonatal factors like cyanotic congenital heart disease, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, respiratory failure due to meconium aspiration syndrome, congenital pneumonia, pneumothorax etc.: To study the contributing factors, complications and immediate outcome of birth asphyxia in a tertiary care centre in Assam.: It was a prospective observational study carried out in NICU, Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, Assam. The study included clinical profile of 200 cases of birth asphyxia admitted to the above center during period of one year starting from 1st of August 2021 to 31 July 2022.: In our study, out of 200 neonates, 102(51%) were male and 98(49%) were female. 161 cases (80.5%) were term.115 mothers (57.5% were primigravida and 85 mothers (42.5%) were multigravida. Various antenatal contributing factors were found to be meconium stained liquor (68%), anemia (57%), pregnancy induced hypertension (15%), prolonged labor (28.5%), fever(5%), antepartum haemorrhage (5.5%), chorioamnionitis (5%).Various complications of birth asphyxia observed in the study were hyperbilirubinemia 76 cases (38%), hypocalcemia 46 cases (23%), shock 31 cases (15.5%), DIC(13%), meconium aspiration syndrome 24 cases (12%), hypoglycemia 15 cases(7.5%),sepsis 13 cases (6.5%), apnea 14 cases (7%), Necrotising Enterocolitis 6 cases (3%), AKI 120 cases (60%) and the total mortality percentage was 26%.: Birth asphyxia is a leading cause of mortality among the newborn. The contributing factors needs to be addressed at the earliest to decrease the mortality and morbidity due to birth asphyxia.