부산대학교 도서관

Objective : To investigate the effect of surgery time on prognosis of newborns with meningomyelocele. Methods : The records of neonates with meningomyelocele were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and clinical characteristics as well as information,timing of surgery, and durations of hospital stay and antibiotic therapy were recorded. Results : The records of 30 babies were included in the final analysis. Overall, the mean gestational age was 37.7±2.7 weeks, with a mean birth weight of 2967±755 g and head circumference of 35.8±3.8 cm. In terms of localization, 46.6% of the meningomyeloceles were lumbosacral, 40% were lumbar, 10% were thoracolumbar and 3.3% were thoracal. The mean size of the meningomyelocele sacs was 4.33±1.2 cm. Newborns underwent surgery on average of 8.2±5.9 days after birth, with an overall mean duration of hospital stay of 30±25.1 days. Patients were divided into two groups based on timing of surgery (group 1, ≤5 days; group 2, >5 days), and comparisons between groups revealed that earlier surgery was associated with significantly shorter durations of hospital stay (p<0.001) and antibiotic therapy (p<0.05). Conclusion : Early surgical intervention (≤5 days) was associated with a shorter duration of hospital stay and antibiotic therapy as well as a lower complication rate. We recommend that corrective surgery be undertaken as soon as reasonably possible.