Comparison of efficacy of caffeine citrate versus aminophylline in the treatment of premature infants with apnea

Objective To compare the effect of caffeine citrate and aminophylline in the treatment of premature apnea. Methods A total of 230 premature infants with apnea admitted to Linfen People’s Hospital from January 2013 to December 2018 were randomly divided into two groups according to the random number table method, with 115 cases in each group. Caffeine citrate group was treated with caffeine citrate, and aminophylline group was treated with aminophylline. The related clinical indicators, mental development index score (MDI score), psychomotor development index score (PDI score), complications and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results Respiratory support time, total assisted ventilation time, mechanical ventilation time, nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) time, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) time, oxygen therapy time, medication time, hospitalization time and hospitalization cost in the citrate caffeine group were significantly lower than those in the aminophylline group. The corrected MDI scores and PDI scores at 6 months and 12 months were significantly higher than those in the aminophylline group; the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and brain injury was significantly lower than those of the aminophylline group; feeding intolerance, and the incidence of polyuria and hypokalemia were significantly lower than those of the aminophylline group, and the difference were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Compared with aminophylline, caffeine citrate has more stable effect and higher safety on premature apnea. Key words: Caffeine citrate; Aminophylline; Premature infant; Apnea