Journal Article

Effect of caffeine citrate on diaphragmatic electrical activity in pre-term newborns

Beck, Jennifer, Rebello, Celso M., Sanches, Livia R., Zacharias, Romy S.B., Zidan, Tatiana B.B., Ferreira, Carlos Eduardo S., Troster, Eduardo J.

2025

Overview

The gold standard treatment for apnea of prematurity is caffeine citrate, which is known for its effect on diaphragm muscle activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the electrical activity of the diaphragm in preterm newborns, which was measured 30 minutes before and 60 minutes after the administration of a loading dose of caffeine citrate. In this prospective, observational, longitudinal study at a tertiary-level neonatal ICU, data were collected from 36 patients (13 females, 23 males) with a mean gestational age of 31 2/7 ± 2 1/7 weeks and a mean birth weight of 1532 ± 439 grams. The average caffeine level was 15.7 ± 5.9 mg/dL (reference range: 5–30 mg/dL). The results revealed significant increases in all the parameters used to determine the inspiratory phases of the respiratory cycle postcaffeine administration (p < 0.001). The study concluded that caffeine administration significantly enhances diaphragmatic electrical activity in preterm newborns.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Apnea / Apnea - drug therapy / Birth weight / Caffeine / Caffeine - administration & dosage / Caffeine - pharmacology / Cardiac arrhythmia / Care and treatment / Catheters / Citrates - administration & dosage / Citrates - pharmacology / Citric acid / Diaphragm / Diaphragm - drug effects / Diaphragm - physiology / Drug dosages / Einstein, Albert (1879-1955) / Esophagus / FDA approval / Female / Gestational Age / Humans / Infant, Newborn / Infant, Premature - physiology / Infants (Newborn) / Infants (Premature) / Intensive care / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Medical prognosis / Neonates / Neonatology / Physiological aspects / Prospective Studies / Software / Ventilators