Sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical characteristics of patients undergoing myelomeningocele repair at a public pediatric institute in Peru, 2017–2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58597/rpe.v5i1.140Keywords:
Myelomeningocele, Infant, Newborn, Surgical Procedures, Operative, Postoperative ComplicationsAbstract
Objective: To describe the sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical characteristics of patients who underwent myelomeningocele repair at a public pediatric institute in Peru between 2017 and 2022. Materials and Methods: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study was conducted. Neonates diagnosed with myelomeningocele who underwent surgical repair at INSN Breña between January 2017 and December 2022 were included. Stillbirths, fetal deaths, and incomplete medical records were excluded. Maternal sociodemographic and obstetric variables, neonatal characteristics, and surgical treatment variables were collected. Descriptive analysis was performed using absolute and relative frequencies with Stata v.16 software. Results: Out of the 31 medical records, most patients were born at term (54.8%), with a birth weight between 2500 and 3500 g (71.0%), and via eutocic delivery (64.5%). The most frequent defect location was lumbosacral (74.2%). Hydrocephalus was present in 96.8% of cases. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy was administered in 80.6%, and 96.8% of surgeries were considered technically adequate. Surgical repair was performed within the first 15 days of life in 93.6% of patients. The most frequent complications were hydrocephalus, ventriculitis, and ventriculoperitoneal shunt dysfunction. Hospital stay exceeded 16 days in 93.5% of cases. Conclusion: Early myelomeningocele repair showed adequate technical outcomes; however, the high frequency of complications and prolonged hospital stay highlight the need for timely, standardized, and multidisciplinary clinical–surgical management to improve neonatal outcomes.
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