Given the extensive inflammatory response inherent to NEC, anti-inflammatory treatment may be of benefit, to both reduce inflammation and as a potential therapy to improve outcome. To date, there is no specific therapy for NEC that has been found to improve outcome, but corticosteroids have yet to be investigated in that capacity. Therefore, we propose to examine the effect of hydrocortisone for treatment of NEC in a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study, focusing on a primary outcome of C-reactive protein levels at 3 and 7 days of therapy as a measure of inflammation. In addition, we will follow several secondary outcome measures to determine the possibility of improved outcome in those infants assigned to hydrocortisone.
The investigators hypothesize that infants diagnosed with NEC who receive hydrocortisone will have significantly lower C-reactive protein levels at 3 and 7 days of treatment versus infants who receive placebo.
