For a study, researchers sought to demonstrate the superiority of blood flow (BF)-based circulatory control techniques over traditional blood pressure (BP)-based management strategies for avoiding intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in very low birth weight (VLBW). They carried out a nonblinded, single-center randomized experiment with the goal of preventing IVH by treating BF. Infants with VLBW were randomly allocated to one of two circulatory care groups: BF-based or BP-based (BP group). The result of interest was the prevalence of IVH. The IVH data was also compared between healthy individuals, as well as those who responded and did not respond to the intervention.
The BF and BP groups each had 219 and 220 babies with VLBW. The BF group had a decreased incidence rate of IVH, but the difference was not statistically significant (BF group, 6.8% versus BP group, 10.9%; P=.14). The strategy was unsuccessful in 21% of BP patients and 20% of BF patients. When comparing babies with ineffective intervention to healthy persons in the BF group, the IVH incidence rate was considerably higher (6% vs 23%, P=.001). A link was seen between low blood flow and IVH (aOR 3.24; 95% CI 1.49-7.08, P=.003), but not between low blood pressure and IVH (P=.73). The BF management technique did not reduce the occurrence of IVH considerably. However, they believed that following further modification, the treatment technique has the potential to reduce the incidence of IVH.
Reference:www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)01226-9/fulltext
