Table 1.

Baseline infant characteristics (information prior to or on day of enrollment)

Characteristic	Initial Laparotomy Group (n=146)	Initial Drainage Group (n = 162)
Infant
Gestational age, mean (SD), wk	25.1 (1.7)	24.9 (1.7)
Birth weight, mean (SD), g	721.2 (138.4)	711.4 (135.9)
Small for gestational age, No. (%)	15 (10.3)	16 (9.9)
Male, No. (%)	80 (54.8)	98 (60.9)
Inborn status, No. (%)	82 (56.2)	90 (55.6)
Apgar score at 1 minute, median (min, max)	3 (0, 9)	3 (0, 9)
Apgar score at 5 minutes, median (min, max)	6 (0, 9)	6 (1, 10)
PDA present, No. (%)	59 (43.4)	62 (42.2)
Received postnatal steroids, No. (%)	27 (18.5)	47 (29.0)
Received indomethacin, No. (%)	74 (51.8)	82 (52.6)
Received enteral feedings, No. (%)	90 (79.7)	95 (76.6)
Early onset sepsis, No. (%)	1 (0.69)	6 (3.8)
Late onset sepsis, No. (%)	37 (25.3)	47 (29.4)
Severe Intraventricular hemorrhage (Grade III or IV), No. (%)	17 (12.1)	23 (14.7)