Scientific Publications by FDA Staff

J Perinatol 2016 Aug;36(8):635-9

Inhaled nitric oxide use in preterm infants in California neonatal intensive care units.

Handley SC, Steinhorn RH, Hopper AO, Govindaswami B, Bhatt DR, Van Meurs KP, Ariagno RL, Gould JB, Lee HC

OBJECTIVE: To describe inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) exposure in preterm infants and variation in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) use. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of infants, 22 to 33+6/7 weeks of gestational age (GA), during 2005 to 2013. Analyses were stratified by GA and included population characteristics, iNO use over time and hospital variation. RESULTS: Of the 65 824 infants, 1718 (2.61%) received iNO. Infants, 22 to 24+6/7 weeks of GA, had the highest incidence of iNO exposure (6.54%). Community NICUs (n=77, median hospital use rate 0.7%) used less iNO than regional NICUs (n=23, median hospital use rate 5.8%). In 22 to 24+6/7 weeks of GA infants, the median rate in regional centers was 10.6% (hospital interquartile range 3.8% to 22.6%). CONCLUSION: iNO exposure varied with GA and hospital level, with the most use in extremely premature infants and regional centers. Variation reflects a lack of consensus regarding the appropriate use of iNO for preterm infants.