A study of heated, humidified high flow nasal cannula as an initial respiratory support in preterm neonates

Abstract Background There is an increased use of heated, humidified, high-flow nasal cannula (HHFNC) as a non-invasive respiratory support. Yet, there are limited data that compares it with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) as regard the efficacy & outcome when used for initial treatment in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) shortly postnatal. Method A prospective study conducted aiming to evaluate the effectiveness & outcome of HHFNC compared to nCPAP for the treatment of preterm infants with RDS. Preterms < 35 weeks of gestational age with symptoms and signs of RDS early after birth were randomized to HHFNC or nCPAP. Primary outcome was the incidence of treatment failure (defined as need for upgrading to noninvasive positive pressure ventilation or invasive ventilation). Results Analysis of the randomly allocated infants to HHFNC and nCPAP showed no significant difference in treatment failure (P > 0.05). There was also no significant difference (P > 0.05) among groups as regard mortality, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, incidence of interventricular hemorrhage and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Conclusion This indicates that HHFNC may be used as an equally effective and safe method of non-invasive ventilation when compared to nCPAP for initial respiratory support in preterm infants with respiratory distress.