ABSTRACT
Introduction: Respiratory distress (RD) is a common causeof admission in the neonatal unit. Early recognition of RDand initiation of appropriate treatment is important to ensureoptimal outcomes. RD is one of the most common causes ofmorbidity in newborn. Aim of the present research was tostudy clinical profile of neonatal respiratory distress (RD),to find out most common etiology of respiratory distress innewborn and to assess the immediate clinical outcome of RDin our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Material and Methods: A prospective study was conductedat Tertiary Care Hospital, Guntur from May 2019 to October2019 and study includes 200 cases. Term, pre-term and postterm babies both in-born and out-born cases were included inthe study.Results: The study showed among the 720 newborns admittedin NICU, 200 (28 %) cases were admitted with Respiratorydistress. Of them, 116 babies (58%) were delivered vaginallyand 84 (42%) by lower segment caesarean section. There were122 (61%) pre-term babies, 68 (34%) term and 10 (5%) postterm neonates who were admitted with respiratory distress. Themajority of cases were clinically presented with tachypnea,flaring of alae nasi, and chest indrawing. The respiratorydistress resolved on the 4th day in majority of cases.Conclusion: Respiratory Distress is one of the commonestcause of NICU admissions. Transient tachypnea of thenewborn is the most common cause of respiratory distress interm babies whereas Hyaline membrane disease is common inpreterm babies. The survival rate was 90% among RD casesadmitted to NICU.