Effects of low-dose dopamine on urine output in normotensive very low birth weight neonates

Objective:to determine the effects of low-dose dopamine on urine output (uop) in very low birth weight premature neonates.study design:retrospective cohort study of all low-dose (3–5 μg kg−1 per min) dopamine infusions >24-h duration in neonates ⩽1500 g and ⩽32 weeks gestation from august 2009 through september 2011. linear regression was used to estimate the impact of covariates on uop.result:we identified 91 episodes of low-dose dopamine use in 65 neonates. increased uop occurred in 64% of episodes. low-dose dopamine use was associated with a 0.6 ml kg−1 h−1 increase in uop (p<0.001) and a 1.3 ml kg−1h−1 increase when baseline uop was <1.5 ml kg−1 h−1 (p<0.001). the improvement remained statistically significant after controlling for medications (diuretics and hydrocortisone) and fluid intake.conclusion:low-dose dopamine use was associated with increased uop in very low birth weight neonates.