Pentoxifylline treatment in newborns with neonatal sepsis in last four years; Retrospective study

Introduction: Despite all advances in neonatalogy, neonatal sepsis remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity. The main treatment of neonatal sepsis is usingappropriate antibiotics for the causative agent. Pentoxifylinne is an immunmodulatory agent that supresses the release of proinflammatory cytokines as a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. It is used in infectious, vascular and inflammatory diseases. It is also recommended for use in newborn sepsis because of its positive effects on the clinic. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of pentoxifylline in patients who were followed up with neonatal sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit and who were treated with pentoxifylline. Material and Method: This study in conducted between January 2015 – December 2018 in Abant Izzet Baysal University Training and Research Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Among the 1355 patients treated in our neonatal intensive care unit, 161 patients receiving pentoxifylline treatment for sepsis were used pentoxifylline 30 mg / kg / dose as a 6-hour infusion for 6 days and these cases were examined retrospectively. Results: Between January 2015 and December 2018, pentoxifylline treatment was applied to 161 patients out of 1355 patients hospitalized in our neonatal intensive care unit. Before and after treatment laboratory values were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. When evaluated qualitatively, leukocytosis (p = 0.016), neutrophilia (p = 0,000 according to neutrophil percentage), and thrombocytopenia frequency decreased; thrombocytosis (p = 0.879), anemia (p = 0,000 for Hb and Hct), eosinophilia (p = 0.013 for eosinophil percentage), normal values of AST (p = 0,000), ALT (p = 0,000), urea (p = 0,000) ), creatinine (p = 0,000) and CRP (p = 0,000) frequency increased. When evaluated quantitatively, neutrophil count (p = 0,000), neutrophil percentage (p = 0,000), hemoglobin (p = 0,000), hematocrit (p = 0,000), AST (p = 0,000), urea (p = 0,000), creatinine (p = 0,000) and CRP (p = 0,000) parameters showed decrease, while WBC (p = 0.384), platelet count (p = 0,000), eosinophil count (p = 0,000), eosinophil percentage (p = 0,000) and MPV (p = 0,000) showed increase. Conclusion: It was concluded that pentoxifylline has an important role as a supportive treatment in neonatal sepsis due to its low side effect profile and no significant negative effect.