Variation in Gastrostomy Tube Placement in Premature Infants in the United States.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To describe the variation in surgical gastrostomy tube (SGT) placement in premature infants among neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the United States.

Study design

We identified 8,781 premature infants discharged from 114 NICUs in the Pediatrix Medical Group from 2010 to 2012. The outcome of interest was SGT placement prior to discharge home from an NICU. Unadjusted proportions and adjusted risk estimates were calculated to quantify variation observed among individual NICUs.

Results

SGT placement occurred in 360 of 8,781 (4.1%) of infants. Across NICUs, any gastrostomy tube placement ranged from none in 45 NICUs up to 19.6%. Adjusted risk estimates for factors associated with SGT placement included gestational age at birth (odds ratio [OR]: 0.7/week,

SUBMITTER: Greene NH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9939950 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature