High-dose oral ibuprofen most effective for PDA closure

High-dose oral ibuprofen may be most likely to result in closure of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in preterm infants, compared with other pharmacological treatments, according to results of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis.

However, using placebo or no treatment at all did not increase the odds of mortality, necrotizing enterocolitis, or intraventricular hemorrhage in the study, published in JAMA.

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PDA is a common cardiovascular issue among prematurely born infants. According to Dr. Mitra and his coauthors, it’s thought that a large proportion of PDAs spontaneously close in a few days and have minimal effect on clinical outcomes.

As a result, treatment is often targeted to PDAs deemed hemodynamically significant based on clinical and echocardiographic parameters, the authors wrote, although there is little guidance on what, if any, treatment to use in this situation.

“The dilemma is whether to use pharmacotherapy at all, and if a decision is made to treat the PDA medically, what should be the ideal choice of pharmacotherapy,” they wrote.

Dr. Mitra and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 68 randomized clinical trials including 4,802 infants with clinically or echocardiographically diagnosed, hemodynamically significant PDA.