Characteristics of the newborns transferred to the regional reference hospital in Asturias

Abstract

Introduction. Regionalization of neonatal care is an important point of quality in pediatric care. Neonatal interhospital transfers between regional hospitals and referral centers are part of this regionalization. Objective. To analyze characteristics of newborns transferred from the different regional and private hospitals to theregional reference hospital in Asturias during 2017 and 2018. Materials and methods. An observational, descriptive and retrospective study was conducted, including all neonatal patients transferred fron other Asturian hospital to Neonatology Service of HUCA between January 2017 and December 2018, in Asturias. Results. 136 patients were included (56 female and 80 male), which represents a transfer every 5 days, 1.8% of the 7,563 neonates born in the sending hospitals and 14.4% of the neonatal admissions in the receiving hospital. 63.2% of patients were admitted to the neonatal Intensive Care Unit and 36.7% to the neonatal Intermiediate care room with a mean admission time of 9.5 days. 20.7% were preterm newborns. The average born weight was 2,983 g. 20.6% were less than 2,500 g. Average age at transfer was 5 days, being the 46.3% made during first 24 hours of life. The most frequent causes of transfer were: respiratory (25%) neurological (14.7%), digestive (13.2%) and infectous (12.5%). 38% required ventilatory support and 1,4% died during admission. Conclusions. Neonatal inter-hospital transfers are relatively frequent in our region, with respiratory distress and neurological problems being the most common causes. The analysis of neonatal care regionalization is especially important in regions with low birth rates due to demographic crisis.