Neonatal Pneumothorax Outcome in Preterm and Term Newborns

Background and Objectives: Pneumothorax implies the presence of air in the pleural space between the visceral and parietal pleura. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics, risk factors, therapy and perinatal outcome in neonates with pneumothorax in a tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study based on a five-year data sample of neonates with pneumothorax was conducted in a Maternity Hospital with a tertiary NICU from 2015 to 2020. We included all neonates with pneumothorax born in our hospital and compared demographic characteristics, perinatal risk factors, anthropometric parameters, comorbidities, clinical course and method of chest drainage between term (≥37 GW) and preterm (<37 GW) neonates. Results: The study included 74 newborns with pneumothorax, of which 67.6% were male and 32.5% were female. The majority of women (59.5%) had no complications during pregnancy. Delivery was mainly performed via CS (68.9%). Delivery occurred on average in 34.62 ± 4.03 GW. Significantly more (p = 0.001) children with pneumothorax were born prematurely (n = 53; 71.6%) than at term (n = 21; 28.4%). Most of the neonates had to be treated with ATD (63.5%) and nCPAP (39.2%), but less often they were treated with surfactant (40.5%) and corticosteroids (35.1%). O(2) therapy lasted an average of 8.89 ± 4.57 days. Significantly more (p = 0.001) neonates with pneumothorax had additional complications, pneumonia, sepsis, convulsions and intraventricular hemorrhage (68.9%). However, most children had a good outcome (83.8%) and were discharged from the clinic. Fatal outcomes occurred in six cases, while another six neonates had to be transferred to referral neonatal centers for further treatment and care. Conclusion: Significantly more children with pneumothorax were born prematurely than at term. With adequate therapy, even premature newborns can successfully recover from pneumothorax.