Ultrasound of Bowel Motility and Vascularity as Predictors of NEC
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Ultrasound Assessment of Bowel Motility and Three Dimensional Power Doppler Ultrasound as Predictors of Necrotising Enterocolitis - A Pilot Study.
IRAS ID
136440
Contact name
CE Hutchinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Warwick
Research summary
Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is the commonest bowel disorder affecting premature infants and is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality on the neonatal unit. Currently x-rays play an important role in the diagnosis, monitoring and detection of complications of NEC, however there are several disadvantages in this setting. Namely the use of ionising radiation, the frequent need for serial x-rays and the non-specific appearances in early NEC. The role of ultrasound in NEC has been explored in the last few years, with identification of diagnostic and severity features. Previous groups have studied a single time point in the disease and therefore it is difficult to infer which features occur in milder disease, which features are potentially reversible and whether there is a particular timescale of progression of ultrasound findings. We plan to evaluate both motility and vascularity using new (in the study of NEC) features of ultrasound (3D) and more precise software. This is a pilot study evaluating bowel in 30 infants. If we are able to demonstrate acceptability and reliability, we plan to perform a longitudinal study of ultrasound in premature infants with the aim of identifying potential early signs of NEC. \n
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/WM/0342
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion