Value of prenatal dexamethasone treatment in the prevention of wet lung syndrome of the newborn / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of the prenatal dexamethasone treatment on the preventionof wet lung syndrome in the newborn of elective caesarean section at term. Methods Two hundred cases of elective caesarean section at term (the gestation age was less than 39 weeks) were divided into observation group and control group,with 100 cases in each by random digits table. Observation group was treated with four intramuscular injections of 6 mg dexamethasone in the 24 hours to 7 days before delivery, and control group was treated with 0.9% sodium chloride injection with the same method. The clinical data and the incidence of the wet lung syndrome of the newborn were collected. Results The incidence of the wet lung syndrome of the newborn was 1%(1/100) in observation group and 9%(9/100) in control group,and the incidence of the severity of the wet lung syndrome of the newborn was 1% ( 1/100) in observation group and 2%(2/100) in control group. There were no complication in observation group and 1 case in control group.The incidence and the severity of the wet lung syndrome of the newborn in observation group were less than that in control group significantly (P = 0.009,0.049). Conclusion Prenatal dexamethasone treatment can reduce the incidence of the wet lung syndrome of the newborn and decrease the incidence of the severity and complication of elective caesarean section at term.