Abstract
Objective: The prophylactic use of phenobarbital for the prevention of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in premature infants remains controversial. In order to objectively assess the effect of phenobarbital on IVH, nine large-scale hospitals participated in a nearly two year investigation of brain injuries in premature Infants in China.
Study Design: All premature infants with gestational age less than 34 weeks in three hospitals and less than 37 weeks in two other hospitals received intravenous phenobarbital (loading dose of 20 mg/kg) as early as possible before 6 hours of age. A maintenance dose of 5 mg/kg daily was given 24 hours after the loading dose and continued for 5 days. Premature infants in 4 other hospitals did not receive phenobarbital. All infants in nine hospitals were subjected to routine cranial ultrasound scanning within seven days after birth, and then repeated every 3∼7 days until discharge. The study period lasted from Jan. 2005 to Aug. 2006.
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