Materials and Methods
This study involved a retrospective review of the clinical and operative
records of 27 preterm infants (gestational age < 37 weeks) who
had surgical closure of PDA with left anterior minithoracotomy technique
between November 2020 and January 2022 at a single instution. 27 patiens
underwent PDA closure with this technique (9 male, 18 female). Same
pediatric surgeon operated all the patients. PDA was closed in premature
infants who had congestive heart failure despite medical treatment or
showed a large left to right shunt on echocardiogram causing increased
mechanical ventilatory support, hypotension requiring inotropic support,
oliguria/renal failure or feeding intolerance/failure to gain weight The
range of the weight at operation was 480–2700 g. Preoperatively, 26
infants were ventilator‐dependent.
Data on early postoperative outcomes and survival rates after discharge
were collected. Baseline information of patients are shown in Table 1.
The data collected include medical treatment time, preoperative
mechanical ventilation (MV) support(days), PDA closure with clip or
ligation, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, conversion to
sternotomy or thoracotomy, use of inotropic agents, surgery related
complications, postoperative length of stay(days), hospital length of
stay(days), transfer to another hospital, postoperative MV time(days),
complications in the intensive care unit, hospital mortality and number
of patients still alive. All operations were performed in the operating
room of our hospital.