Liu and Harrington identified factors in the delivery room that are associated with Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS). These can help to identify a neonate who may require more aggressive management. The authors are from Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida.
Patient selection: neonate in the delivery room
Risk factors for meconium aspiration syndrome from multivariate analysis:
(1) fetal distress
(2) Apgar at 1 minute < 7
(3) Apgar at 5 minutes < 7
(4) thick meconium
If none of these factors are present then the risk is less than 1%.
If all 4 are present then the risk is 80%.
Additional risk factors from bivariate analysis:
(1) need for resuscitation
(2) stomach suction performed at < 5 minutes of age
The presence of tracheal meconium was highly prevalent and was not predictive of MAS.
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