Background
The few studies that have addressed the relationship between severity of intrapartum
fever and neonatal and maternal morbidity have had mixed results. The impact of the
duration between reaching maximum intrapartum temperature and delivery on neonatal
outcomes remains unknown.
Objective
To test the association of severity of intrapartum fever and duration from reaching
maximum temperature to delivery with neonatal and maternal morbidity.
Study Design
This was a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort of term, singleton patients
admitted for induction of labor or spontaneous labor who had intrapartum fever (≥38°C).
Patients were divided into 3 groups according to maximum temperature during labor:
afebrile (<38°C), mild fever (38°C–39°C), and severe fever (>39°C). The primary outcome
was composite neonatal morbidity (umbilical artery pH <7.1, mechanical ventilation,
respiratory distress, meconium aspiration with pulmonary hypertension, hypoglycemia,
neonatal intensive care unit admission, and Apgar <7 at 5 minutes). Secondary outcomes
were composite neonatal neurologic morbidity (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, hypothermia
treatment, and seizures) and composite maternal morbidity (postpartum hemorrhage,
endometritis, and maternal packed red blood cell transfusion). Outcomes were compared
between the maximum temperature groups using multivariable logistic regression. Cox
proportional-hazards regression modeling accounted for the duration between reaching
maximum intrapartum temperature and delivery.
Results
Of the 8132 patients included, 278 (3.4%) had a mild fever and 74 (0.9%) had a severe
fever. The incidence of composite neonatal morbidity increased with intrapartum fever
severity (afebrile 5.4% vs mild 18.0% vs severe 29.7%; P<.01). After adjusting for confounders, there were increased odds of composite neonatal
morbidity with severe fever compared with mild fever (adjusted odds ratio, 1.93 [95%
confidence interval, 1.07–3.48]). Severe fevers remained associated with composite
neonatal morbidity compared with mild fevers after accounting for the duration between
reaching maximum intrapartum temperature and delivery (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.05
[95% confidence interval, 1.23–3.43]). Composite neonatal neurologic morbidity and
composite maternal morbidity were not different between patients with mild and patients
with severe fevers.
Conclusion
Composite neonatal morbidity correlated with intrapartum fever severity in a potentially
dose-dependent fashion. This correlation was independent of the duration from reaching
maximum intrapartum temperature to delivery, suggesting that clinical management of
intrapartum fever, in terms of timing or mode of delivery, should not be affected
by this duration.
Key words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: May 19, 2022
Accepted:
May 12,
2022
Received in revised form:
May 6,
2022
Received:
March 7,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
This research was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant number KK23HD098315 ).
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Cite this article as: Hensel D, Zhang F, Carter EB, et al. Severity of intrapartum fever and neonatal outcomes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2022;XX:x.ex–x.ex.
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