Improvement in thermoregulation outcomes following the implementation of a thermoregulation bundle for preterm infants

Temperature probe placement in very preterm infants during delivery room stabilization: an open-label randomized trial

BACKGROUND

Variation in practice exists for temperature probe positioning during stabilization of very preterm infants (<32 weeks gestation). We explored the influence of temperature probe sites on thermoregulation.

METHODS

An open-label, stratified, balanced, parallel, randomized trial was conducted. Inborn infants were randomly assigned temperature probe to the axilla or to the upper back. The primary outcome was normothermia (local range: 36.8-37.3 °C and World Health Organization (WHO) range: 36.5-37.5 °C) at admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.

RESULTS

Between 1 November 2018 and 4 July 2022, 178 infants were randomly assigned to one of the two sites (n = 89 each), 175 included in the final analysis. Normothermia (local range) was achieved for 39/87 infants (44.8%) assigned to the upper back compared to 28/88 infants (31.8%) assigned to the axilla [risk difference:13%; 95% CI -1.3-27.3]. Normothermia (WHO range) was achieved for 78/87 infants (89.7%) assigned to the upper back compared to 70/88 infants (79.6%) assigned to the axilla [risk difference:10.1%; 95% CI -0.5-20.7]. No infant recorded temperatures >38 °C or developed skin injury.

CONCLUSIONS

In very preterm infants, upper back site was equally effective as the axilla in maintaining normothermia, with no increase in adverse events.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12620000293965).

IMPACT

Substantial variation in practice exists for the site of securing a temperature probe during delivery room stabilization of very preterm infants and the influence of temperature probe site on thermoregulation remains unknown. In this study, upper back site was equally effective as the axilla in maintaining normothermia, with no increase in adverse events. Clinicians could adopt upper back site for maintaining normothermia. This study may contribute data to future international participant data prospective meta analysis of randomized controlled trials worldwide on temperature probe positioning in very preterm infants, increasing translation of research findings to optimize thermoregulation and clinical outcomes.

Admission temperature and neonatal outcomes - single-centre experience in Saudi Arabia

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the association between admission hypothermia (AH), neonatal mortality and major neonatal morbidities in preterm infants <33 weeks' gestation. An additional aim of the study was to examine changes in the prevalence of admission hypothermia after the initiation of a thermoregulation quality improvement (QI) project.

Method

This is a retrospective cohort study of preterm infants < 33 weeks' gestation born at King AbdulAziz Medical City Riyadh (KAMC-R) between January 2017 to December 2020.

Results

Eight-hundred infants were born during the study period. Four hundred and one infants (50.1%) had an admission temperature of <36.5 °C and a further 399 (49.9%) had an admission temperature of >36.5 °C. The mortality before discharge was 15.7% in infants with AH compared to 4.8% among those with an admission temperature above 36.5 °C. This remained statistically significant after adjustments for gestational age and maternal PET status on a multivariate analysis (P = .001, OR 2.7,95%CI 1.5-4.7). The need for mechanical ventilation (P = .005) and incidence of surgical NEC (P = .030) were significantly different between the two temperature groups. Mean (SD) admission temperature increased from 36.3 °C to 36.6 °C following the thermoregulation intervention program (P <.001). Admission temperature <36 °C is associated with higher mortality in the first week (P = .001, OR 3.3,95% CI (1.7-6.6)) and increased incidence of cystic PVL (P = .04, OR 2.1, CI (1.03-4.3)).

Conclusion

Preterm infants with AH suffered higher mortality and greater neonatal morbidities.