PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Prado, Laura A
AU  - Castro, Marina
AU  - Weisz, Dany E
AU  - Jain, Amish
AU  - Belik, Jaques
TI  - Necrotising enterocolitis in newborns receiving diazoxide
AID  - 10.1136/archdischild-2020-319057
DP  - 2021 May 01
TA  - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition
PG  - 306--310
VI  - 106
IP  - 3
4099  - http://fn.bmj.com/content/106/3/306.short
4100  - http://fn.bmj.com/content/106/3/306.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed2021 May 01; 106
AB  - Background Frequent and severe gastrointestinal disturbances have been reported with the use of diazoxide in adults and older children. However, no studies have investigated the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in diazoxide-exposed newborns.Objective To evaluate a possible association between diazoxide treatment for neonatal hypoglycaemia and the occurrence of NEC.Design Multicentre retrospective cohort study.Setting Three tertiary neonatal intensive care units in Toronto, Canada.Patients All patients treated with diazoxide for persistent hypoglycaemia between July 2012 and June 2017 were included. Overall incidence of NEC during those years on the participating units was obtained for comparison from the Canadian Neonatal Network database.Main outcome Incidence of NEC after diazoxide exposure.Results Fifty-five neonates were exposed to diazoxide during the study period. Eighteen patients (33%) showed signs of feeding intolerance, and 7 developed NEC (13%). A diagnosis of NEC was more prevalent in the diazoxide-exposed, as compared with non-exposed infants of similar gestational age (OR 5.07, 95% CI 2.27 to 11.27; p<0.001), and greatest among infants born at 33–36 weeks’ gestation (OR 13.76, 95% CI 3.77 to 50.23; p<0.001). All but one of the neonates diagnosed with NEC developed the disease within 7 days from initiation of diazoxide treatment.Conclusion The present data suggest a possible association between diazoxide exposure and the development of NEC in neonates. Further evaluation of the diazoxide-associated risk of NEC in neonates treated for persistent hypoglycaemia is warranted.Data are available upon reasonable request.