Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Retinopathy of Prematurity. Summarized Version, 2017

Abstract

This document is the result of a rigorous collaborative effort between PAHO, the National University of Colombia, the Cochrane Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Group, and a group of experts from Latin America and the United Kingdom made up of neonatologists, perinatologists, pediatricians, newborn critical care specialists, ophthalmologists, pediatric ophthalmologists, epidemiologists, and experts in literature searches and critical reviews. The recommendations presented here were prepared by adapting and updating existing regional documents and drafting evidence profiles that contain necessary, sufficient information to respond to questions developed by consensus between PAHO and the Guide’s Developer Group. Although these guidelines do not contain cost-effectiveness considerations, they are innovative because they incorporate the implementation strategy that PAHO suggested and developed for this type of documents. The goal is to contribute efficiently to the development of public policies related to the visual health of premature infants in the Region of the Americas and the Caribbean. Thus, this document presents an implementation matrix for each group of recommendations, which integrates the quality of the information, the expectations of professional groups involved in patient care, and a balance between the expected benefits and the acceptability of the recommendations for each area. The guidelines were constructed according to the methodology suggested in the World Health Organization (WHO) Handbook for Guideline Development and have been evaluated by peer reviewers using the AGREE II tool to confirm their quality. We hope that the recommendations presented here are useful for all of the professionals, institutions, authorities, and health agencies committed to the well-being of newborns in conditions of vulnerability and that they help to improve these newborns’ visual health and psychoemotional development.