PURLs
Suctioning Neonates at Birth: Time to Change Our Approach
There’s a better way to clear secretions from a neonate’s mouth and nose, and it’s less likely to cause adverse effects.
WHAT’S NEW
Stronger evidence that helmets are not effective
Previously, the evidence on helmets for PSD had been obtained mainly from observational or poorly designed studies with significant flaws.6 This study by van Wijk et al1 included objective measurement of skull deformity, along with clinically meaningful outcomes of parental satisfaction, motor development, and parental anxiety.
It also found that helmet therapy was significantly more expensive than care that focused on waiting for PSD to resolve on its own ($1,935 vs $196, respectively).1
CAVEATS
Results may not apply to all infants with skull deformity
These findings do not apply to infants with very severe PSD or those with skull deformity due to secondary causes.1 In addition, this is the only RCT to date that has assessed helmet use in PSD, so it is possible that future studies will find helmets are effective.
Continue for challenges to implementation >>