Introduction
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially serious preventable disease that can present in up to 34% of preterm newborns. The World Health Organization includes the management of this entity among its priority policies for reducing the prevalence of preventable blindness.
Objectives
Synthesize the recommendations contained in Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Retinopathy of Prematurity, a publication of the Pan American Health Organization, with a view to producing recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of newborns with retinopathy of prematurity.
Methods
The guidelines and recommendations were synthesized and a systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Lilacs, Health Systems Evidence, Epistemonikos, and gray literature for studies carried out in the Region of the Americas with a view to identifying barriers, facilitators, and implementation strategies
Results
A total of 30 recommendations and 14 good practices were formulated for application to premature newborns under 32 weeks of gestational age and/or with a birthweight of less than 1500 g who have required oxygen or present other risk factors for ROP. Barriers to implementation were lack of available human resources, supplies and equipment, and knowledge about guidelines for implementation of the recommendations.
Conclusions
The formulated recommendations aim to provide strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ROP in premature newborns and include suggestions for their implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean.