Early identification of NEC Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Early identification of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants: Are pre-diagnosis changes in systemic clinical observations associated with disease severity?
IRAS ID
224432
Contact name
Megan Greasley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
One main cause of death for babies born before 30 weeks, and weighing less than 1000g is an infection called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). NEC affects the gastrointestinal tract (gut) of premature infants, often resulting in damage of sections of the gut wall. For the most severe cases, surgery is required to repair or remove infected sections. Long term implications of this may include further health complications that require longer hospital stays. There have been a number of studies to determine if anything can be done medically to prevent the infection occurring, with a big focus on antibiotic usage and feeding methods. Despite improvements taken from this research, infection rates are still high and more research is required to determine if clinical observations could indicate the severity and outcome of the disease, allowing clinicians to act sooner with medical care.
This project will follow a retrospective study design. We will review the case notes of pre-term infants diagnosed with NEC at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Neonatal Unit within the last 3 years. The aim of the study is to determine if changes in clinical observations that occur prior to the diagnosis of NEC being made are associated with disease severity. Several variables will be recorded for the five days prior to diagnosis of NEC. These will include heart rate, breathing rate, temperature and blood pressure. Statistical analysis will be carried out to identify associations between the observations and the severity of the disease. Findings will be reported in a Masters Clinical Research project report and potentially in peer reviewed journals and at conferences. It is hoped that being able to identify the disease as early as possible, will mean that the use of preventative measures like antibiotics can be administered sooner.REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EM/0150
Date of REC Opinion
8 May 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion