Clinical Guideline Adaptation for Treatment of Neonatal Sepsis Based on Frequency of Microbial Agents

Background: Sepsis is one of the most important causes of death in infants. The pattern of bacterial agents responsible for neonatal septicemia changes over time. The main aim of the present study was to provide a clinical guideline adapted for treatment of neonatal sepsis based on the frequency of microbial agents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Alzahra Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. Methods: The clinical guideline adaptation is conducted based on the ADAPTE Resource Toolkit for Guideline Adaptation (version 2.0) from December 2016 to January 2018. For data collection, the specialized websites were identified, then an internet search method was used for gaining clinical guidelines and medical literature databases. A panel was established with members of multi-specialties and the obtained guidelines were examined and evaluated. In the end, the final guideline was selected and translated. Results: Regarding the guideline, employing antibiotics should start when the neonate is 35 weeks and premature rupture of membrane (PROM) happened 18 h. Moreover, it could be employed when the neonate did not receive antibiotics, the gestational age (GA) is 35 weeks with a PROM 18 h or a GA 37 weeks with a PROM ≥ 18 h. Conclusion: Implementation of the neonatal sepsis treatment guideline leads to a unified method of treatment, reduces the risk of antibiotic resistance, and decreases the mortality and morbidity associated with sepsis.