ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
Early Postnatal C-Reactive Protein Elevation During Initial Hospitalization in Neonates with Giant Omphalocele Undergoing Delayed Repair
Provisionally accepted
- Guangzhou Medical University Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China
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Introduction: To preliminarily describe the dynamic changes and clinical characteristics of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in giant omphalocele (GO) neonates with delayed repair during the early postnatal period. Methods: A retrospective study included 15 neonates with GO who underwent delayed repair at our hospital. CRP was collected at 0, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21 days after birth and before discharge. Data on hospital stay duration, complications, and anti-infection treatment were recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to present the trend of CRP changes, and the relationship with clinical indicators was preliminarily analyzed. Results: Among the 15 full-term neonates (average gestational age 38.5 weeks, birth weight 2821 g), CRP reached a peak value on the 5th day after birth (median 87.1 mg/L), followed by a decreasing trend but remaining at a high level (78.0, 67.2, and 48.0 mg/L on the 7th, 10th, and 14th days, respectively). The peak CRP level was positively correlated with the hospital stay duration (R = 0.78, p = 0.001). 73.3% (11/15) of the GO neonates received empirical antibiotic treatment (average course of 11 days), while the pathogen positivity rate was only 20% (3/15), and all were cultured from the sac membrane secretions. Based on the duration of continuous CRP elevation as the classification criterion, it was found that neonates with a longer duration of elevated CRP had larger defects, longer hospital stays, and longer time to achieve full enteral nutrition. Conclusion: Neonates with GO undergoing delayed repair exhibit significant CRP elevation in the early postnatal period, but this rise correlates poorly with proven infection. Clinicians need to carefully interpret the changes in CRP and avoid excessive anti-infection treatment. This case series provides preliminary data and hypothesis basis for subsequent large-sample studies.
Keywords: Delayed surgery, Omphalocele, peak CRP, Primary surgery, Sterile Inflammation
Received: 10 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Huang, Peng, Lv, Zhong and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiuming He
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