Elevated supine midline head position for prevention of intraventricular hemorrhage in VLBW and ELBW infants: a retrospective multicenter study.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of elevated supine midline head position on intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants.

Study Design: We reviewed data from four Level III/IV units. Two of these units (mid-line group) cared for infants in midline position and the other two (routine care group) provided routine care. We compared incidence of any and severe IVH in two groups using multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results: Of 2201 VLBW infants, 1041 were extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW). Odds of any IVH were not different either for VLBW or ELBW infants. Odds of severe IVH were higher for VLBW infants in mid-line group (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.007-2.02; p value 0.046) but not for ELBW infants (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.6-1.4; p value 0.73).

Conclusions: The incidence of any IVH was similar in the two groups but the incidence of severe IVH was higher in VLBW infants in mid-line group.