Antibiotic Exposure in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit and the Risk of Necrotizing Enterocolitis

http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2811%2900238-1/abstract
Results

One hundred twenty-four cases of NEC were matched with 248 control subjects. Cases were less likely to have respiratory distress syndrome (P = .018) and more likely to reach full enteral feeding (P = .028) than control subjects. Cases were more likely to have culture-proven sepsis (P < .0001). Given the association between sepsis and antibiotic use, we tested for and found a significant interaction between the two variables (P = .001). When neonates with sepsis were removed from the cohort, the risk of NEC increased significantly with duration of antibiotic exposure. Exposure for >10 days resulted in a nearly threefold increase in the risk of developing NEC.
Conclusions

Duration of antibiotic exposure is associated with an increased risk of NEC among neonates without prior sepsis.