Profile of Neonates Admitted in Pediatric ICU and Validation of Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology (SNAP)

A retrospective study was conducted in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of a tertiary care hospital in northern India to profile neonatal admissions and to assess the validity of the Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology (SNAP) in predicting the outcome in terms of mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS). Neonatal sepsis (51%) and birth asphyxia (11.2%) were the commonest indications for admission. Thirty-seven (38.1%) of the neonates died. The mean SNAP score in babies who died was 18.8 +/- 9.8 and 10.1 +/- 6.4 in survivors (P<0.001). There was no correlation between SNAP score and mean length of stay in hospital (P=0.5). We conclude that SNAP correlates well with mortality in neonates admitted to the PICU.