J Pediatr. 2025 Sep 11:114802. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114802. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether discharge with remote patient monitoring (RPM) is associated with improved outcomes among infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with a nasogastric tube (NGT).
STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of infants discharged with an NGT from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center NICU from 2015-2022. Infants were divided into pre-RPM and RPM cohorts. Differences in clinical characteristics, weight at follow-up, and unplanned healthcare utilization were evaluated using multivariable generalized linear regression models.
RESULTS: There were 385 eligible patients (N=139 pre-RPM, N=246 RPM). Infants discharged with RPM had higher rates of prematurity. The RPM group was discharged at an earlier PMA (43.00 vs. 44.12 weeks, p=0.0102) and had more favorable change in weight z-score at follow-up (0.21 [0.03, 0.4] at 3 months, 0.34 [0.09, 0.58)]at 6 months). The risk of unplanned admissions or emergency department visits was 53% lower in the RPM group than in the pre-RPM group (RR = 0.47 [0.28, 0.79]).
CONCLUSIONS: Patients discharged with an NGT plus RPM were discharged at earlier PMA, had more favorable growth trajectory, and had fewer unplanned healthcare encounters, indicating that discharge with NGT feeds with RPM appears to be safer and more effective than discharge with NGT feeds without RPM.
PMID:40945579 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114802
