Abstracto

Zinc supplementation as an adjuvant treatment in neonatal sepsis.

Mohamed S El Frargy, Neama A Soliman

Aim: The aim of this study is to detect the effect of zinc as an adjuvant treatment in the management of neonatal sepsis. Method: A prospective clinical trial study was conducted on 200 neonates with neonatal sepsis diagnosed clinically and by laboratory investigation. The studied neonates were divided into two groups. Intervention group (n=100) which was treated by zinc and antibiotics, while the control group (n=100) was received antibiotics only. Zinc was administered as 3 mg/kg/ twice a day of zinc sulfate monohydrate orally for 15 day along with antibiotics according to a standard protocol. Both groups were compared using a predefined sepsis score through clinical and laboratory examination. Results: According to sepsis score there was no significant difference between intervention and control groups before starting zinc (p-value=1.00), while there was significant difference in sepsis score between groups after 5 days,10 days and 15 days of starting zinc with (p-value=0.008, 0.006, 0.002, respectively). The sepsis score improvement is significant in both groups but better in the intervention group. Conclusion: The use of zinc as an adjuvant treatment of sepsis in neonate is associated with better outcome both clinically and laboratory.