Evaluating the quality of the processes of care and clinical outcomes of premature newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units in Mexico.

Objectives: To develop quality of care (QoC) indicators, evaluate the quality of the processes of care (QPC) and clinical outcomes, and analyze the association between the QPC and severe clinical outcomes of preterm newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Design: Mixed methods approach: (1) development of QoC indicators via modified RAND/UCLA method; (2) cross-sectional study of QoC evaluation and (3) multiple logistic regression analysis to ascertain the association between the QPC and severe clinical outcomes.

Setting: Two NICUs belonged to the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City.

[Survival and complication rate of central venous catheters in newborns].

Background: In the current medical practice, central venous catheters (CVC) are very useful; however, their use involves certain risks, which increase morbidity and mortality, especially in newborns. The aim of this study was to describe both the frequency of complications and survival of CVC placed in newborns hospitalized in a third level neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: A descriptive, observational and prospective study was carried-out in the NICU from the Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI.

[Withdrawal of chest tubes without water seal vs. negative continuous suction after closed cardiovascular surgery procedures in children].

Background: We undertook this study to compare the frequency and type of complications, as well as the length of hospital stay, in children who underwent closed cardiovascular surgery with chest tube drainage during the postsurgical period with children in whom the drainage was withdrawn with continuous suction, once thoracotomy was completed.

Methods: A retrospective, descriptive and analytic study was performed at the IMSS Hospital de Pediatria, located at the XXI Century National Medical Center in Mexico City. Eighty eight children who underwent closed cardiovascular surgery (Group I) without chest tubes and 42 with chest tubes (Group II) were studied.