Objectives: To describe the initial care practices for children with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) and analyze the factors predicting the severity of the obstruction breathing disorders.
Design: A retrospective single-center study of 150 children with PRS.
Setting: Single tertiary care center, Regional Competence Center for the diagnosis and treatment of PRS.
Patients: A total of 150 children with PRS consecutively followed between 1986 and 2017. Group 1 comprises children without specific respiratory management; group 2, children requiring prone positioning to alleviate their respiratory distress symptoms; and group 3, children requiring nasopharyngeal airway tube (NT) or nonconservative surgical treatment.
Main outcome measures: Evolution and results of the initial treatment of PRS.
Results: Forty-two percent (n = 63) were attributed to group 1, 39% (n = 50) to group 2, and 19% (n = 29) to group 3. Preterm birth, birth weight, or associated congenital malformations were not significantly different between the groups. However, the age of exclusive oral feeding was significantly different: 1 day (quartiles: 0-3) for group 1; 11 days (quartiles: 1-28) for group 2; 39 days (quartiles: 19-111) for group 3 (P < .0001). Considering the NT, its use relieves the upper airway obstruction, assessed by a respiratory polygraphy, in 14 children.
Conclusions: Nasopharyngeal airway tube has become our major first-line treatment, avoiding more complex procedures in most of the cases. The achievement of exclusive oral feeding seems to be a good predictor of the severity of respiratory symptoms in PRS.
Keywords: Pierre Robin sequence; cleft palate; nasopharyngeal tube; respiratory distress; upper airway obstruction.