Quality improvement in respiratory care: decreasing bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Neonatal respiratory care practice among level III and IV NICUs in New England

OBJECTIVES

To assess respiratory care guidelines and explore variations in management of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants within a collaborative care framework. Additionally, to gather clinical leaders' perspectives on guidelines and preferences for ventilation modalities.

STUDY DESIGN

Leaders from each NICU participated in a practice survey regarding the prevalence of unit clinical guidelines, and management, at many stages of care.

RESULTS

Units have an average of 4.3 (±2.1) guidelines, of 9 topics queried. Guideline prevalence was not associated with practice or outcomes. An FiO2 requirement of 0.3-0.4 and a CPAP of 6-7 cmH2O, are the most common thresholds for surfactant administration, which is most often done after intubation, and followed by weaning from ventilatory support. Volume targeted ventilation is commonly used. Extubation criteria vary widely.

CONCLUSIONS

Results identify trends and areas of variation and suggest that the presence of guidelines alone is not predictive of outcome.

Measuring practice preference variation for quality improvement: development of the Neonatology Survey of Interdisciplinary Groups in Healthcare Tool (NSIGHT)

BACKGROUND

Understanding behavioural psychology and the human side of change are guiding principles for quality improvement (QI). Tools to measure these to guide improvement efforts are lacking.

METHODS

We created a clinical vignette-based survey to measure provider preferences for respiratory care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Fourteen vignettes were included, each vignette offering two reasonable practice choices. Responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from neutral to strong preference for either choice. The survey was completed by physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers and respiratory therapists in 2017 and again in 2019. Net preference was measured as the median value of responses, and agreement was measured as the SD of responses. Net preference and agreement were assessed for all responses, by discipline, and by year.

RESULTS

Response rates were 51% of all staff in 2017 and 57% in 2019. Vignettes asking about non-invasive respiratory support showed more defined net preferences and higher agreement between years, coinciding with QI efforts and guideline implementation in this area during the interval time. Results on other areas of practice were consistent between years. Discipline comparisons showed nurses and physicians agreed the least often. Six response patterns were identified, ranging from net preference and high agreement to no net preference and low agreement.

CONCLUSION

We propose this survey, called the Neonatology Survey of Interdisciplinary Groups in Healthcare Tool, is a novel method for measurement of hospital unit psychology and culture. Demonstrated improvement where QI efforts were focused and consistency in results in other areas support the validity of this tool. Measuring the human side of change may impact QI efforts.

Advancements in neonatology through quality improvement

In the past 3 decades, quality improvement methodology has often been employed in medicine to improve patient outcomes. Neonatal medicine has seen an increase in publications using improvement science to ensure the application of potentially better practices to decrease complications and increase survival without major disability. This article reviews quality improvement studies that have impacted neonatal mortality and morbidity, as well as specific disease processes including bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, and retinopathy of prematurity. Using improvement science, studies have substantially reduced neonatal mortality and the major complications of preterm birth.

Impact of SIMPLE Feeding Quality Improvement Strategies on Aerodigestive Milestones and Feeding Outcomes in BPD Infants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Delays with enteral and oral feeding milestones among premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) can be due to provider variation or infant-dependent factors. Our objectives with this study were to compare aerodigestive milestones and length of stay in BPD infants after implementing a quality improvement program to improve feeding outcomes.

METHODS

Using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model for quality improvement, we implemented the simplified, individualized, milestone-targeted, pragmatic, longitudinal, and educational (SIMPLE) feeding strategy to enhance feeding and aerodigestive milestones among BPD infants. The key interventions addressed were as follows: (1) enteral feed initiation and advancement protocol; (2) oral feeding progression guidelines, optimization of respiratory support, feeding readiness scores, nonnutritive breastfeeding, and cue-based feeding; (3) active multidisciplinary collaboration; and (4) family-centered care. Comparisons were made between baseline (January 2009 to March 2010) and SIMPLE feeding strategy (May 2010 to December 2013) groups. Both groups included infants between 23 0/7 and 32 6/7 weeks' birth gestation, and ≤34 weeks' postmenstrual age at admission and discharge.

RESULTS

The baseline group and SIMPLE feeding group included 92 patients and 187 patients, respectively. Full enteral feeding, first oral feeding, full oral feeding, and length of stay milestones were (all P < .05) achieved sooner in the SIMPLE feeding group. Although the overall prevalence of BPD in the 2 groups is similar, the incidence of moderate BPD has decreased (P < .05) and severe BPD has increased (P < .05) in the SIMPLE feeding group.

CONCLUSIONS

SIMPLE feeding strategy advances postnatal maturation and acquisition of feeding milestones irrespective of the severity of BPD and impacts the length of stay, thereby lowering resource use.

NICU bedside caregivers sustain process improvement and decrease incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in infants < 30 weeks gestation

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to investigate whether a respiratory care bundle, implemented through participation in the Vermont Oxford Network-sponsored Neonatal Intensive Care Quality Improvement Collaborative (NIC/Q 2005) and primarily dependent on bedside caregivers, resulted in sustained decrease in the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in infants < 30 wk gestation.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Infants inborn between 23 wk and 29 wk + 6 d of gestation were included. Patients with congenital heart disease, significant congenital or lung anomalies, or death before intubation were excluded. Four time periods (T1-T4) were identified: T1: September 1, 2002 to August 31, 2004; T2: September 1, 2004 to August 31, 2006; T3: September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2008; T4: September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2010.

RESULTS

A total of 1,050 infants were included in the study. BPD decreased significantly in T3 post-implementation of the respiratory bundle compared with T1 (29.9% vs 51.2%, respectively; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.06 [95% CI 0.03-0.13], P = < .001). The decrease was not sustained into T4. There was a significant increase in the rate of BPD-free survival to discharge in T3 compared with T1 (53.1% vs 47%; aOR = 1.68 [95% CI 1.11-2.56], P = .01) that was also not sustained. The rate of infants requiring O2 at 28 d of life decreased significantly in T3 versus T1 (40.3% vs 69.9%, respectively; aOR = 0.12 [95% CI 0.07-0.20], P = < .001). Increases in the rate of surfactant administration by 1 h of life and rate of caffeine use were observed in T4 versus T1, respectively. There was a significant decrease in median ventilator days and a significant increase in the median number of noninvasive CPAP days throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, implementation of a respiratory bundle managed primarily by nurses and respiratory therapists was successful in increasing the use of less invasive respiratory support in a consistent manner among very low birthweight infants at a single institution. However, this study and others have failed to show sustained improvement in the incidence of BPD despite sustained process change.

Trends in resource utilization by children with neurological impairment in the United States inpatient health care system: a repeat cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Care advances in the United States (US) have led to improved survival of children with neurological impairment (NI). Children with NI may account for an increasing proportion of hospital resources. However, this assumption has not been tested at a national level.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

We conducted a study of 25,747,016 US hospitalizations of children recorded in the Kids' Inpatient Database (years 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2006). Children with NI were identified with International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification diagnoses resulting in functional and/or intellectual impairment. We assessed trends in inpatient resource utilization for children with NI with a Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test using all 4 y of data combined. Across the 4 y combined, children with NI accounted for 5.2% (1,338,590) of all hospitalizations. Epilepsy (52.2% [n = 538,978]) and cerebral palsy (15.9% [n = 164,665]) were the most prevalent NI diagnoses. The proportion of hospitalizations attributable to children with NI did not change significantly (p = 0.32) over time. In 2006, children with NI accounted for 5.3% (n = 345,621) of all hospitalizations, 13.9% (n = 3.4 million) of bed days, and 21.6% (US$17.7 billion) of all hospital charges within all hospitals. Over time, the proportion of hospitalizations attributable to children with NI decreased within non-children's hospitals (3.0% [n = 146,324] in 1997 to 2.5% [n = 113,097] in 2006, p<.001) and increased within children's hospitals (11.7% [n = 179,324] in 1997 to 13.5% [n = 209,708] in 2006, p<0.001). In 2006, children with NI accounted for 24.7% (2.1 million) of bed days and 29.0% (US$12.0 billion) of hospital charges within children's hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

Children with NI account for a substantial proportion of inpatient resources utilized in the US. Their impact is growing within children's hospitals. We must ensure that the current health care system is staffed, educated, and equipped to serve this growing segment of vulnerable children.

Rehospitalization in the first 2 years of life in children born preterm

AIM

Aim of the study is to investigate the frequency of and predictors for rehospitalization within the first 2 years of life among preterm infants.

METHODS

All children born before 32 weeks of gestation in Northern Tyrol between January 2003 and July 2008 were prospectively enrolled. Data on rehospitalizations were obtained from hospital admission records. The association between candidate risk factors and readmission was analysed by means of logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

In the first and second years of life, 151 and 93 of 377 children (40.1% and 24.7%), respectively, were readmitted to one of the hospitals in Northern Tyrol. The most common causes of rehospitalization were respiratory disorders, accounting for 42.1% and 47.4% of total readmissions in the first and second years of life. Chronic lung disease (CLD), male sex and smoking in pregnancy were risk conditions relevant to readmission in the first year of life, but only CLD in the second year.

CONCLUSION

Infants born before 32 weeks of gestation have a high risk of rehospitalization with respiratory illness significantly contributing to postdischarge morbidity. Neonatal intensive care should aim to further improve respiratory health in preterm infants, and adequate follow-up services must be offered.

BPD: old and new problems

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is still one of the main long term complication of preterm birth, and it is the most common chronic respiratory disease in infants. Due to advances in perinatal care and neonatal respiratory therapy the clinical characteristics and the natural history of infants affected by BPD have widely changed in the last decades. The sever presentation of the old form of BPD has been replaced by a milder clinical form, without or with mild respiratory distress syndrome in the first days of life, that responds rapidly to surfactant therapy and instead requires prolonged ventilator support because of poor respiratory effort. "Old" and "new" BPD, are also histologically different, being two morphologic outcomes of variable combinations of factors injuring lungs of differing maturity. New BPD is characterized by diffusely reduced alveolar development, with airway injury, inflammation and fibrosis that are usually milder than in old form. Such "new" form of BPD is interpreted as a developmental disorder. The development of BPD is a multifactorial process with pathogenesis being linked to immature lung tissue, barotrauma and volutrauma resulting from mechanical ventilation, oxidant injury, and proinflammatory mediators.and inflammatory regulation may also have a role in the development of the new form. There is growing evidence that BPD results from an imbalance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, with a persistent imbalance that favors proinflammatory mechanisms. Reduction of the incidence and severity of BPD may be possible through a reduction of the amount of injury induced by respiratory support interventions.

Perioperative management of low birth weight infants for open-heart surgery

Infants of birth weight ≤2500 g are termed low birth weight (LBW). These children often have considerable morbidity from prematurity and intra-uterine growth restriction. Additionally, LBW infants have increased risk for cardiac and noncardiac congenital anomalies and may require surgery. Primary rather than palliative surgical repair of cardiac lesions has been preferred in recent years. However, LBW remains a risk factor for increased mortality and morbidity after open-heart surgery (OHS). There is a paucity of information about the anesthetic challenges presented by LBW infants undergoing OHS. This review summarizes the perioperative issues of relevance to anesthesiologists who manage these high-risk patients. Emphasis is placed on management concerns that are unique to LBW infants. Retrospective data from the authors' institution are provided for those aspects of anesthetic care that lack published studies. Successful outcome often requires substantial hospital resources and collaborative multi-disciplinary effort.