Abstract
Improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities of antenatal care has meant that the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) need to care for infants with complex congenital conditions who need ongoing care post discharge. This, along with improved survival of the extreme preterm infants, provides the neonatal team with a cohort of infants who require long-standing multi-disciplinary input. However, provision of dedicated teams looking after infants with complex medical needs is not commonly reported in NICU workforce structure. The objective of this study is to perform a scoping review of literature on the presence of structured and dedicated complex care management teams in neonatal intensive care unit and their outcomes on care delivery. A scoping review was undertaken to identify all reported literature on existence of chronic care teams in NICU searching medical databases. A narrative synthesis of results was prepared.
Conclusions: The review identified very few clinical models reported with no robust data on clinical outcome measures.
What is Known: • Neonatal units are increasingly providing care for infants who require chronic ongoing input from multiple specialties or allied health professionals. A majority of this cohort is formed by extreme preterm infants who require long term respiratory support or nutritional rehabilitation. • There are examples of dedicated clinical teams looking after complex patients in adult and pediatric intensive care outfits leading to improvements in outcome. | |
What is New: • This is first literature review in the authors’ knowledge on the use of complex care teams in neonatal intensive care unit. • This article provides a narrative synthesis of the clinical models that have been used by complex care teams in neonatal intensive care unit and whether they have demonstrated tangible benefits in patient outcome. |
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Abbreviations
- BPD:
-
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
- s-BPD:
-
Severe- Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
- CCN:
-
Complex care needs
- CLD:
-
Chronic Lung Disease
- CPAP:
-
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
- CQC:
-
Care Quality Commission
- EQUATOR:
-
Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of health Research
- ED:
-
Emergency department
- FiO2:
-
Fractional Inspired Oxygen
- IMV:
-
Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation
- LTV:
-
Long term ventilation
- MDT:
-
Multidisciplinary Team
- NICU:
-
Neonatal intensive care unit
- PMA:
-
Post menstrual age
- QI:
-
Quality Improvement
- UK:
-
United Kingdom
- USA:
-
United States of America
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Amy Ward, clinical librarian of East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust, for helping with the systematic search.
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AS, AP and SS conceptualised the project. AS and AP carried out preliminary literature search and reviewed results of the search carried out by clinical librarian. AS and AP reviewed the selected articles independently and collated results and conclusions. AS drafted the primary manuscript. AP and SS helped edit and all authors approve the final version.
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Communicated by Daniele De Luca
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Appendix 1. Ovid search strategy (Literature search done on 22/12/2021)
Appendix 1. Ovid search strategy (Literature search done on 22/12/2021)
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1.
newborn/
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2.
neonat*.mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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3.
“new born”.mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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4.
infant/
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5.
(“complex care” or “complex care team” or “neonatal complex care team” or “neonatal complex care”).mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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6.
1 or 2 or 3 or 4
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7.
intensive care.mp. or intensive care/
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8.
critical care.mp.
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9.
“neonatal intensive care”.mp. or newborn intensive care/
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10.
(ICU or NICU).mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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11.
“complex care model”.mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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12.
NCCT.mp. [mp=title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word]
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13.
7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 12
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14.
5 or 11 or 12
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15.
6 and 13 and 14
Appendix 2. PRISMA flow diagram
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Sur, A., Paria, A. & Sivashankar, S. Management pathway for infants requiring chronic care in neonatal units—a scoping review of practices. Eur J Pediatr 181, 3235–3242 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04542-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04542-4