Choosing Wisely: 5 Newborn Tests and Treatments to Avoid

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD

As part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the American Academy of Pediatrics has released a list of five tests and treatments in newborn medicine that "cannot be adequately justified on the basis of efficacy, safety, or cost."

The AAP advises clinicians to avoid routine use of:

• antireflux medications for treating symptomatic gastroesophogeal reflux disease or apnea and desaturation in preterm babies;

• antibiotic therapy for longer than 48 hours to rule out bacterial infection in asymptomatic preterm infants;

• pneumograms for predischarge assessment of prolonged apnea of prematurity;

• daily chest radiographs without indications for intubated infants;

• screening with term-equivalent or discharge brain MRIs in preterm babies.