ABSTRACT
To describe the frequency and nature of premedication practices for neonatal tracheal intubation (TI) in 2011; to identify independent risk factors for the absence of premedication; to compare data with those from 2005 and to confront observed practices with current recommendations. Data concerning TI performed in neonates during the first 14 days of their admission to participating neonatal/pediatric intensive care units were prospectively collected at the bedside. This study was part of the Epidemiology of Procedural Pain in Neonates study (EPIPPAIN 2) conducted in 16 tertiary care units in the region of Paris, France, in 2011. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with premedication use and multilevel analysis to identify center effect. Results were compared with those of the EPIPPAIN 1 study, conducted in 2005 with a similar design, and to a current guidance for the clinician for this procedure. One hundred and twenty-one intubations carried out in 121 patients were analyzed. The specific premedication rate was 47% and drugs used included mainly propofol (26%), sufentanil (24%), and ketamine (12%). Three factors were associated with the use of a specific premedication: nonemergent TI (Odds ratio (OR) [95% CI]: 5.3 [1.49-20.80]), existence of a specific written protocol in the ward (OR [95% CI]:4.80 [2.12-11.57]), and the absence of a nonspecific concurrent analgesia infusion before TI (OR [95% CI]: 3.41 [1.46-8.45]). No center effect was observed. The specific premedication rate was lower than the 56% rate observed in 2005. The drugs used were more homogenous and consistent with the current recommendations than in 2005, especially in centers with a specific written protocol. Premedication use prior to neonatal TI was low, even for nonemergent procedures. Scientific consensus, implementation of international or national recommendations, and local written protocols are urgently needed to improve premedication practices for neonatal intubation.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Surfactant therapy is one of the few treatments that have dramatically changed clinical practice in neonatology. In addition to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), surfactant deficiency is observed in many other clinical situations in term and preterm infants, raising several questions regarding the use of surfactant therapy. OBJECTIVES: This review focuses on several points of interest, including some controversial or confusing topics being faced by clinicians together with emerging or innovative concepts and techniques, according to the state of the art and the published literature as of 2013. Surfactant therapy has primarily focused on RDS in the preterm newborn. However, whether this treatment would be of benefit to a more heterogeneous population of infants with lung diseases other than RDS needs to be determined. Early trials have highlighted the benefits of prophylactic surfactant administration to newborns judged to be at risk of developing RDS. In preterm newborns that have undergone prenatal lung maturation with steroids and early treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the criteria for surfactant administration, including the optimal time and the severity of RDS, are still under discussion. Tracheal intubation is no longer systematically done for surfactant administration to newborns. Alternative modes of surfactant administration, including minimally-invasive and aerosolized delivery, could thus allow this treatment to be used in cases of RDS in unstable preterm newborns, in whom the tracheal intubation procedure still poses an ethical and medical challenge. CONCLUSION: The optimization of the uses and methods of surfactant administration will be one of the most important challenges in neonatal intensive care in the years to come.
