The impact of a care bundle with an emphasis on hemodynamic assessment on the short-term outcomes in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Objective To evaluate the short-term outcomes of implementing a care bundle emphasizing frequent hemodynamic assessments by echocardiography in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Study design This was a retrospective cohort study of infants with CDH admitted to a quaternary perinatal unit from January 2013 to March 2021. The primary composite outcome was defined as mortality or use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or need for respiratory support at discharge. Results We identified 37 and 20 CDH infants in Epoch I and II, respectively. More patch repairs (50% vs. 21.9%, p = 0.035) and echocardiograms (6[4–8] vs. 1[0–5], p = 0.003) were performed in Epoch II. While there were no differences in the primary outcome, there was a reduction in mortality in Epoch II (0% vs. 27%, p = 0.01). Conclusion With the implementation of a CDH care bundle with an emphasis on hemodynamic assessment, we demonstrated a significant reduction in mortality.