Management of the patent ductus arteriosus among infants born at 23 to 32 weeks’ gestation between 2011 to 2022: a report from in the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium

Objective: This study reports on patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) therapy trends across the Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium. Study design: We performed a 12-year (2011–2022) retrospective study of premature infants (< 33 weeks) with a PDA. We utilized descriptive statistics to compare demographic, inpatient, and discharge characteristics in 3-year epochs. Result: From 54,813 infants, 19,843 (36%) had a diagnosis of PDA. Use of pharmacotherapy increased 44% (relative) over time, mostly with increased acetaminophen use. There was a 12.7-fold increase in exposure to multiple PDA medications over the study period. While the rate of definitive closure did not change, use of transcatheter PDA closure increased from 0 to 20.3% and surgical ligation decreased from 25.1% to 3.6%. Conclusion: There has been an increase in the use of multiple pharmacotherapies for PDA, especially among infants born <27 weeks’ gestation. Transcatheter PDA closure has overtaken surgical ligation as the primary method of definitive PDA closure.