VENTILATORY PRACTICES AND OUTCOMES IN EXTREMELY PRETERM NEWBORNS: TWO
DECADES OF EVOLUTION IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
Abstract
In recent decades, less aggressive ventilatory practices have been
favored in extremely preterm newborns (EPNB), as invasive ventilation
(IV) is a major risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).
However, these changes have not been accompanied by consistent
improvements in the incidence of BPD. The aim was to evaluate changes in
ventilatory practices and their association with morbidity in EPNB. A
single-center retrospective study was performed over the last 2 decades
(2001-2020) on all newborns (NB) born with less than 28 weeks requiring
ventilatory support. A total of 249 NB were included. There were no
statistically significant differences in median gestational age and
birth weight between the two decades. There was a significant decrease
in IV (p=0.007) and a significant increase in exclusively non-invasive
ventilation (p=0.007) in the second decade. There was a significant
decrease in the use of IV in the first 24 hours of life (p=0.002). There
was a higher prevalence of BPD in the second decade (p=0.042), although
there was no difference in the prevalence of severe BPD (p=0.614) or
when BPD was adjusted for mortality (p=0.324). Duration of IV predicts
the development of BPD with good accuracy (AUC=0.911, CI95%
0.849-0.973). Only gestational age seems to be an independent factor for
BPD (aOR 0.683; CI95% 0.517-0.902). Despite the use of less aggressive
ventilation techniques, with an increase in exclusive non-invasive
ventilation, there was not the expected improvement in the prevalence of
BPD. Changing ventilation practices will probably not be a sufficient
measure to improve BPD in EPNB.