IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 46 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.12891/ceog4613.2019

Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology (CEOG) is published by IMR Press from Volume 47 Issue 1 (2020). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.

Open Access Original Research
A comparative study of the contribution of antenatal corticosteroids administration on improving neonatal respiratory function after elective cesarean section
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1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rea Hospital, Athens, Greece
3 Department of Medical Statistics, Medical Faculty, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
*Correspondence: ptsikour@med.duth.gr (P. TSIKOURAS)
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2019, 46(3), 368–374; https://doi.org/10.12891/ceog4613.2019
Published: 10 June 2019
Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of corticosteroid administration (CA) 48 hours before an elective cesarean sections (ECS) at term neonates, as compared to usual management without corticosteroids, as well as antenatal CA is related to reducing neonatal respiratory problems (RP). Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in neonates who were born between 37 and 39 gestational weeks after ECS and 718 pregnant women at term, who underwent ECS were enrolled. The participants were categorized in two groups. Group 1 consisted of 315 pregnant women who underwent CA (a single dose of 12 mg betamethasone (BS) 48 hours before the ECS). Group 2 consisted of 403 pregnancies, that did not receive any BS before the ECS. Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in APGAR scores, at one and five minutes between the two groups. Nineteen (2.6%) children were born with respiratory problems. The incidence of RP was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in women who did not receive corticosteroids in contrast to those who received them (3.7% vs. 1.3%). In group 2, the lack of CA was associated with a three-fold increase in risk of RP in neonates (OR: 3.01). In group 2 an increased risk of RP in neonates was observed during 37 or 39 weeks (40% and 75%, respectively), but these trends were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The single-dose of prenatal administration of (BS) 48 hours before the ECS, seems to improve the lung function of neonates.

Keywords
Corticosteroid administration
Elective cesarean section
Term pregnancies
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