Title : Neonatal anoxia: Risk factors, repercussions on neuropsychomotor development, and the importance of early intervention

Introduction: Neonatal anoxia is an important clinical condition resulting from reduced or insufficient oxygen supply to the tissues of the newborn. It may compromise different organs and lead to neurological consequences and alterations in neuropsychomotor development. Its occurrence is associated with maternal, obstetric, and neonatal factors, highlighting the importance of identifying risk factors and ensuring early follow-up of affected children.

Objective: To analyze the occurrence of neonatal anoxia, its main associated factors, possible repercussions on neuropsychomotor development, and the importance of early physiotherapeutic assessment and intervention.

Methods: A descriptive review was conducted based on two studies addressing neonatal anoxia. The first was an observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study carried out at a public maternity hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, involving 7,126 deliveries between January 2017 and October 2018, of which 36 newborns had Apgar scores ranging from 0 to 5 for more than five minutes. The second study analyzed 27 children who showed partial recovery after neonatal anoxia and were treated at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital of Santa Maria; home-based neurodevelopmental assessment was performed in ten cases. Results: The prevalence study identified neonatal anoxia in 0.5% of births and found associations with prematurity, male sex, low birth weight, maternal urinary tract infection, arterial hypertension/pregnancy-specific hypertensive disease, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, and prolonged labor. In the developmental study, 20% of the ten children who underwent neurodevelopmental assessment presented abnormalities and required stimulation. Among the 27 cases initially identified, 3.7% had a diagnosis of neurological pathology, whereas only 7% had a documented indication for physiotherapy, demonstrating the relevance of follow-up even when there are no evident neurological manifestations at hospital discharge.

Conclusion: Neonatal anoxia has a multifactorial etiology and may result in subsequent developmental impairments. Identifying risk factors, together with neurodevelopmental assessment, multidisciplinary follow-up, and early physiotherapeutic intervention, is essential for detecting abnormalities and supporting the neuropsychomotor development of affected children.

Keywords: Neonatal anoxia; Neuropsychomotor development; Early intervention.

Maria Isabel Ferraz is a medical student at the Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina (UNOESC), Joaçaba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Her academic interests include neonatal health, child development, neurological outcomes, and early interventions aimed at promoting neuropsychomotor development.