Infección neonatal: comportamiento en una unidad de cuidados intensivos

introduction. the aim of present study was to characterize the newborns presenting with sepsis seen in the neonatal intensive services of the "america arias" gynecology and obstetrics hospital for 2 years. methods. a quantitative, observational, descriptive and retrospective research was carried out. universe included 214 neonates. study variables were: neonatal conditions, clinical sepsis manifestations, severity, humoral alterations and a history of intervention procedures. some variables were combined founding the p-value to comparison in neonates with non-severe or with severe sepsis. results. in study group the prematurity, low birth weight and retarded intrauterine growth achieved a 49.1%, 42,1% and 18,7%, respectively. the 72.9% of patients had severe sepsis. the commonest clinical manifestations were the tachypnea (69.2%) and a slow capillary filling (57.9%). the more frequent humoral alteration was the metabolic acidosis (63.6%) and the umbilical catheterization was the commonest intervention procedure (21.5%), metabolic acidosis and neutrophilia and respiratory assistance with umbilical catheterization (21 % or epicutaneous (20.6%). the p-value was of 0.001 among patients with non-severe sepsis and the patients with severe sepsis in all combinations of intervention and non-significant in the combination of low birth weight-retarded intrauterine growth (iurg). conclusions. there was predominance of prematurity, severe sepsis, tachypnea, umbilical catheterization and metabolic acidosis. the differences among the patients with non-severe sepsis and those with severe sepsis were significant in all the intervention combinations and of neonatal condition, but not in the combination of low birth weight-iurg.