Extremely low birth weight infants with patent ductus arteriosus: searching for the least invasiveness.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is an important problem in premature infants. Extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) are so fragile with respect to surgical stress that minimally invasive procedures are required. We report 26 ELBWI cases with PDA who underwent surgical closure. All had failed indomethacin treatment, or it had been contraindicated. The mean gestational age at birth was 27 weeks (range, 24-38 weeks), and the mean birth weight was 960.96 g (range, 710-1440 g). The mean age at operation was 18.06 days (range, 7-34 days), and the mean body weight at operation was 989.42 g (range, 680-1460 g). There was no surgery-related mortality or morbidity. Our surgical procedures consisted of posterior muscle-sparing thoracotomy, clipping the PDA and no ligation, and closing the thorax without a tube thoracostomy. Muscle-sparing thoracotomy reduces the likelihood of long-term physical impairment and deformity, the clipping technique minimizes the dissection of surrounding PDA tissue, and the thorax is closed without a tube. Nursing care is simplified, costs are reduced, and the number of chest x-rays needed postoperatively is reduced. We believe that surgical closure of PDA without chest tube drainage can be accomplished safely in premature infants.