Rescue Surfactant for Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in Newborns: Comparing Efficacy of Delivery Via Laryngeal Mask Airway to Delivery by Endotracheal Intubation

Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) due to deficiency of lung surfactant is common in preterm newborns. Early treatment with surfactant improves oxygenation, reduces the need for subsequent mechanical ventilation, decreases the incidence of pulmonary air leaks and chronic lung disease and it also reduces mortality in extremely premature newborns. Optimal treatment of RDS includes surfactant therapy and avoidance of invasive mechanical ventilation by using nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP). The current standard method of surfactant delivery requires tracheal intubation and at least brief positive-pressure ventilation. Tracheal intubation causes pain and leads to vagal-mediated physiologic instability in neonates; therefore, premedication with morphine and atropine is routinely practiced in our setting. However, premedication with morphine often increases respiratory depression, requiring sustained mechanical ventilation. The Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) is a commercially available, less invasive artificial airway that does not need to be inserted into the trachea; it is FDA-approved for use in neonates, and preliminary data suggest that it can be used for surfactant administration.

The main objective of this study protocol is reduce the need for endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation in preterm neonates with mild to moderate RDS needing rescue surfactant therapy by instilling surfactant though an LMA. A second objective is to compare the efficacy of surfactant administered via LMA versus endotracheal tube (ETT) in decreasing the severity of RDS. Additionally, we will evaluate the safety of surfactant administration via LMA.

The primary hypothesis is that surfactant treatment via the LMA approach will decrease the proportion of babies with RDS who require mechanical ventilation or subsequent intubation, when compared with standard surfactant as administered to the ETT group.

This randomized controlled trial will include babies with mild-to-moderate RDS, between 4 to 48 hours of age, with gestational age 29 0/7 to 36 6/7 weeks, treated with NCPAP ≥ 5 cm H2O and FiO2 between 0.30 and 0.60 for at least 2 hours to maintain SpO2 88-95%, and informed consent. Exclusion criteria are weight < 1000 g, airway anomalies, pulmonary air leaks, and craniofacial and cardiothoracic malformations.

After informed consent is obtained, babies are randomly assigned (from sealed, opaque, consecutively numbered envelopes), to the "ETT" or "LMA". The "ETT" group is managed according to our current practice of surfactant therapy (endotracheal intubation following premedication with atropine + morphine), whereas the "LMA" group will be pre-medicated with atropine before LMA insertion for surfactant administration.