Good Research Paper On Patent Ductus Arteriosus

PDA has a lot of implications to the infants and their families. The infants can suffer from severe lung damage due to the high pressure in the blood if the condition is not treated early enough (NIH, 2011). Some children exhibit the silent symptom if the PDA is too small. In such cases, it may take a while to detect whether the children are suffering from PDA. The families of the infants suffer psychologically because they do not know whether their babies will become healthy and lead normal lives. It is worse when the babies have other heart defects that require surgery before treating PDA. The families of the infants with PDA are also faced with financial issues because they have to ensure that their children are surrounded with an environment that makes it possible for them to recover.
PDA causes the heart of the infant to strain due to the mixing of the blood in the pulmonary artery and the blood in the aorta. The blood in the pulmonary artery contains poor levels of oxygen while the blood in the aorta contains rich levels of oxygen. The strain in the infant’s heart increases the blood pressure of the lung arteries (NIH, 2011). Some infants require treatment that will enable the closing of the ductus arteriosus. Other children with heart defects may be given medicine to keep the ductus arteriosus open so as to enable flow of blood as the doctors conduct surgery to eliminate the heart defects. Treatment of PDA can be done through surgery, catheter procedures, and medicine. Some of the medicines used to treat PDA include Indomethacin Sodium IV, Ibuprofen Lysine, Indocin IV, and NeoProfen IV. One of the catheter procedures used to treat PDA is Trans-catheter Occlusion. It is an effective way of treating PDA with subjecting the child to surgery. Surgery is the best form of treatment if the PDA is large (Kim, 2015). Surgery is done through a procedure known as Surgical Litigation. A child can lead a normal life once he or she receives treatment for PDA.
Children with PDA find it hard to breath, and they are aided by a ventilator (SCH, 2015). The infants may suffer lung damage if the PDA is left untreated. The family of the infant with PDA is affected because they have to constantly watch the child. They have to ensure the child follows the instructions given by the doctor so as to keep them healthy. The family may incur extra expenses in ensuring that their children receive proper treatment. The family of the infant is also affected psychologically because they are not sure if their child will recover and lead a normal life.

References

NIH, (2011, Sep 26). What is Patent Ductus Arteriosus. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pda
SCH, (2015). Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA). Stanford Children’s Health. Retrieved from: http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=patent-ductus-arteriosus-pda-90-P01811
Kim, L. K., (2015). Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) Treatment and Management. Medscape. Retrieved from: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/891096-treatment#a1156