TY - JOUR T1 - Should a prolonged or short course of indomethacin be used in preterm infants to treat patent ductus arteriosus? JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child SP - 1132 LP - 1133 DO - 10.1136/adc.88.12.1132 VL - 88 IS - 12 AU - Sachin Shah Y1 - 2003/12/01 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/88/12/1132.abstract N2 - A 27 week gestation infant is diagnosed to have a significant patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) on echocardiography on day 2. The infant is ventilator dependent. You decide to treat with indomethacin. The resident suggests that it would be better if prolonged indomethacin therapy could be administered over 5–7 days to ensure that the PDA remains closed. What evidence did she have? In preterm infants with patent ductus arteriosus [patient], is prolonged course indomethacin [intervention] better than short course conventional therapy [comparator] in preventing recurrences and decreasing the need for surgical ligation [outcomes]? Medline (1966–Dec 2002): “indomethacin” AND “patent ductus arteriosus” AND “infant, newborn”; LIMIT to “english language” … ER -