Abstract

BACKGROUND The arterial ductus is a major communicative pathway which is naturally patent in the fetus, connecting the body of the major pulmonary artery to the descending aorta. Although usually closing on its own, the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) may remain open in the second postnatal week due to a lack of prompt diagnosis in the initial days of life or an absence of prompt treatment. OBJECTIVES To prevent the untoward sequelae of patency of the ductus arteriosus, and to avoid invasive surgery at higher ages, the researchers in the present study embarked on determining the effects of oral ibuprofen during the second postnatal week on newborns with patent ductus arteriosus. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this study, 70 neonates aged eight to 14 days, presenting at Khatam-al-Anbia clinic and the NICU ward of Shahid Sadoughi hospital in Yazd, Iran, who were diagnosed with PDA through auscultation of heart murmurs and echocardiography, were randomly assigned to two groups. The experimental group received oral ibuprofen of 10 mg/kg in day 1, 5 mg/kg in day 2, and 5 mg/kg in day 3 administered by their parents. The control group did not receive any drug. Parents were informed of the potential drug complications and side effects and asked to report them to the researchers if any occurred. RESULTS After intervention, the patent ductus arteriosus was closed in 62.9% of the neonates in the experimental group (35 newborns) who received oral ibuprofen, while it was closed in 54.3% of the control neonates (35 newborns) who did not receive any drug (P = 0.628). No complications were observed in either of the neonatal groups. CONCLUSIONS Our findings showed that administration of oral ibuprofen had no significant effect on the medicinal closure of PDA in full-term neonates during the second postnatal week.