| Abstract
Introduction: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a congenital malformation with
challenging management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the presence of
hernia sac and defect size on the prognosis of CDH in Tabriz children’s hospital.
Methods: In this prospective study, all the infants with the diagnosis of CDH that were admitted
to the Tabriz children’s hospital since 2016-2019 were enrolled. The presence or absence of
a hernia sac was evaluated, and the largest diameter on diaphragmatic defect was measured
before the repair. Postoperative outcomes, including instability, duration of mechanical
ventilation, mortality rate, or hospital discharge were obtained and analyzed.
Results: Over the study period, 30 patients with CDH met the inclusion criteria, consisting of
15 males and 15 females. Fifteen cases were diagnosed during the first 24 hours of life and 16
cases experienced hypoxia in the first hour after birth. Defect size was significantly smaller in
survived patients ( P = 0.041). Postoperative death occurred in 9 (42.85%) patients without a
hernia sac. Results showed that none of the cases with hernia sac expired (P = 0.035).
Conclusion: In our study, the presence of the hernia sac was related to a lower postoperative
mortality rate. Defect size in survived group was also smaller. It can be suggested that the
presence of hernia sac and lower diameter of defect size act as good prognostic factors in the
outcome of patients with CDH |