Intravenous immunoglobulin in the management of neonatal sepsis: A randomised controlled trial

Sepsis is a leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in low and middle-income countries. We designed a double-blinded randomised controlled trial in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a tertiary care teaching hospital to determine the role of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in decreasing hospital stay. Eighty neonates with clinical features of sepsis were enrolled in the study and placebo groups to receive 500 mg/kg of IVIG for three consecutive days or a placebo. The primary outcome measure was duration of hospital stay in days. The babies in both groups were comparable in terms of birth weight, gestation and sex distribution. There was no significant difference in duration of hospital stay (days) in the study and placebo groups. We found that treatment with IVIG did not shorten the duration of hospital stay in our setting.