Objective: To compare therapeutic hypothermia (TH) treatment of term and near-term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) between neonatal units.
Study design: Population-based, retrospective analysis of TH initiation and maintenance, and of diagnostic imaging. The comparison between units was based on crude data analysis, indirect standardization, and adjusted logistic regression.
Results: TH was provided to 570 neonates with HIE between 2011 and 2018 in 10 Swiss units. We excluded 121 off-protocol cooled neonates to avoid selection bias. Of the remaining 449 neonates, the outcome was favorable to international benchmarks, but there were large unit-to-unit variations in baseline perinatal data and TH management. A total of 5% neonates did not reach target temperature within 7 h (3-10% between units), and 29% experienced over- or undercooling (0-38%).
Conclusion: Although the neonates had favorable short-term outcomes, areas for improvement remain for Swiss units in both process and outcome measures.
© 2021. The Author(s).