Hemodynamically unstable ductus arteriosus treated with paracetamol in a tertiary care hospital in the northeast of Mexico

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in premature infants after birth is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Indomethacin or ibuprofen are the current treatments, with success rate of 70–85%, but also show severe side effects. Objective To demonstrate the success of intravenous paracetamol as a treatment for the hemodynamically unstable patient with ductus arteriosus closure, in a third level hospital in northeastern Mexico. Subjects and methods We performed a cross-sectional, observational retrospective study. All patients brought to our department between March 2013 and September 2014 were included. We also included files confirming PDA through the Yeh criteria and echocardiographic data before and after the patients took paracetamol. Results Twenty-four files were included in our study. 4 of them were unable to close their PDA, with paracetamol so they had to go to surgical closure. Success in closing PDA with paracetamol was 83%, and we found significant differences in the PDA measurements (2.5 [±0.8] vs. 0.8 mm [±1.1] mm, P Conclusions The use of paracetamol for ductus arteriosus closure could be effective, economical and with fewer side effects than current treatments.