Comparison of intravenous paracetamol versus intravenous ibuprofen in the closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in preterm infants

: The Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) occurs in 50% of infants under 1000 g and 30% of infants less than 1500 g. Treatment failure can exacerbate respiratory distress and its complications. Acetaminophen is a new drug with fewer side effects. The present study was designed and performed to evaluate the effect of this drug  and  intravenous ibuprofen on the treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus.

In this case-control study, 50 preterm infants who were less or equal to 14 days of age and diagnosis  of PDA   by echocardiographic were included and randomly divided into two groups. The first group was treated with intravenous ibuprofen and the second group was treated with intravenous acetaminophen for three days. At the end, the necessary information, including echocardiographic findings were analyzed using SPSS software version 16.

The findings of the present study showed that both ibuprofen and acetaminophen had equal effect in the closing of PDA in preterm infants.There was no significant difference in the duration of  hospitalisation between two  groups (P = 0.259). Possible side effects include intra-ventricular hemorrhage, thrombocytopenia, serum creatinine greater than 1.5 mg / dl, decreased urinary volume, necrotizing enterocolitis, positive blood culture and bronchopulmonary dysplasia were not significantly different between the two groups. The only significant complication was gastrointestinal bleeding, which was almost equally prevalent in both groups.

Acetaminophen  such as ibuprofen is effective as the main treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and it could be a safe alternative to ibuprofen.