[Ways to reduce mortality of newborns with developmental defects]

Technological progress contributed to progress in surgery on the newborns. However, despite the progress in surgery and intensive care of the newborns, the results of treatment of patients with congenital defects are sometimes disappointing. The priority problems for today are the respiratory distress syndrome, hemodynamic disorders, and renal dysfunction, which can be united into the syndrome of general dysadaptation of the newborns. Based on experience gained in the treatment of newborns in pediatric surgical hospital, protocols of treating newborns with developmental defects (congenital diaphragmatic hernia, esophageal atresia, and gastroschisis) have been developed. These protocols are a stage and a prerequisite for development of more effective methods for treating such patients. Common intensive care should be supplemented by such important measures as maintenance of adequate temperature regimen at all stages of medical transportation and therapy of a newborn, obligatory preoperative preparation for stabilization of vital functions, multicomponent endotracheal anesthesia, use of inotropic agents (dopamine and dobutrex), synchronic prolonged artificial ventilation of the lungs and prolonged analgesia, limitation of indications to the use of blood preparations and wide use of hydroxyethylated starch solutions in infusion therapy, rational antibiotic therapy with constant monitoring of the microecological status, and early detection and correction of concomitant diseases. Solution of these problems will essentially decrease the postoperative mortality of newborns with developmental defects.