Infections following surgical patent ductus arteriosus ligation in VLBW neonates.

Very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates (<1,500 g) comprise approximately 1% of liveborn infants in Poland. Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common complication of prematurity. This study aimed to determine how many VLBW neonates treated in the participating units needed a surgical correction of PDA, and to evaluate the incidence of various types of post-operative infections, and their microbiology.Observational study in five neonatology departments by the Polish Neonatology Surveillance Network, involving 2039 VLBW newborns of whom 103 (5.1%) required surgical PDA ligation. Continuous infection surveillance was conducted between 2009 and 2013; infections were defined based on Gastmeier's criteria.PDA surgery was required significantly more frequently in infants from multiple pregnancies, and where labour was complicated by amnionitis. Surgical PDA correction was performed on average on the 19(th) day of life. The incidence of infection was 48.5% (n=50), the most common infections being bloodstream infection (26.2%) and pneumonia (22.3%). A correlation was observed between the day on which the procedure was performed and the time of infection: the earlier the newborn underwent surgery, the earlier the infection manifested (P=0.032). A high CRIB score and chorioamnionitis significantly contributed to the presence of infection.The later the PDA surgery was performed, the later that infection occurred. The infection incidence after correction of PDA among VLBW neonates was comparable to that of infections occurring among all hospitalized VLBW neonates.