Physical and Occupational Therapy Utilization After Infant Abdominal Surgery.

AIMS: Postoperative mobilization in neonates is a critical component of the enhanced recovery pathway. We aimed to explore physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) utilization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients and hypothesized that neonates with major abdominal surgery will experience increased barriers to receiving therapies compared to nonoperative neonates.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed neonates admitted to our institution from January 2020 to December 2021. We compared therapy type/timing and clinical outcomes between operative and nonoperative neonates.

RESULTS

We assessed 210 neonates (92 operative, 118 nonoperative). Operative neonates had lower median [Q1, Q3] gestational age (GA) at birth and birthweight. Operative neonates experienced significantly greater median [Q1, Q3] time from admission to first PT/OT session. Time from index operation to first therapy session was 25 days for PT and 22 days for OT. Number of active and missed PT/OT sessions were not significantly different between groups after accounting for length of stay (LOS). Operative neonates more frequently missed PT/OT sessions due to out-of-unit procedures or imaging.

CONCLUSION

Our data highlight a need for mitigation of barriers to mobilization among operative neonates, particularly in the first few weeks after surgery. Prospective studies are needed to explore the impact of earlier postoperative therapy among operative neonates.