The Effect of Low to Moderate Patient Volume on Very Low-Birth-Weight Outcomes in a Level III-B Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

We studied the effect of a low-to moderate-volume, level III-B neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on very low-birth-weight (VLBW) outcomes. We performed a retrospective analysis of the King Abdulaziz Hospital (KAH) NICU electronic database. Short-term outcomes of all inborn VLBW infants (501 to 1500 g) in the well-equipped, well-staffed KAH NICU (2003 to 2008) were benchmarked with data (1997 to 2002) from the National Institute of Children Health and Human Development and Neonatal Research Network (NICHD-NRN). Survival without major neonatal morbidity was defined as survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), grade III to IV intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and Bell's stage II to III necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The survival rates of VLBW infants at the KAH NICU (n = 250) and the NICHD-NRN (n 18,153) were similar (84 versus 85%). A significantly higher rate of survival without major neonatal morbidity (80 versus 70%, p = 0.002) and lower rate of BPD (14 versus 22%, p = 0.005) were observed in KAH. The rates of grade III to IV IVH, Bell's stage II to III NEC, and late-onset sepsis were comparable in both cohorts. Our low-to moderate-volume, well-equipped, well-staffed, level III-B NICU achieved outcomes similar to the NICHD-NRN. Further study is warranted to ascertain how a lower-volume NICU achieved similar outcomes, as this could then be applied to quality improvement efforts.