Comparison of Two Strategies for Surfactant Prophylaxis in Very Premature Infants: A Multicenter Randomized Trial

• Published in: Pediatrics (Evanston) 1998-06, Vol.101 (6), p.1006-1012
• Main Authors: Kendig, James W, Ryan, Rita M, Sinkin, Robert A, Maniscalco, William M, Notter, Robert H, Guillet, Ronnie, Cox, Christopher, Dweck, Harry S, Horgan, Michael J, Reubens, Linda J, Risemberg, Herman, Phelps, Dale L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Care and treatment; Dosage and administration; Drug Administration Schedule; Emergency and intensive care: neonates and children. Prematurity. Sudden death; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infants (Premature); Intensive care medicine; Logistic Models; Lung surfactant, Synthetic; Medical sciences; Pediatrics; Premature infants; Prevention; Pulmonary Surfactants - administration & dosage; Respiration, Artificial; Respiratory distress syndrome; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn - complications; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn - prevention & control; Resuscitation; Survival Analysis; Synthetic lung surfactants; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0031-4005; 1098-4275
• DOI: 10.1542/peds.101.6.1006

Previous trials of surfactant therapy in premature infants have demonstrated a survival advantage associated with prophylactic therapy as an immediate bolus, compared with the rescue treatment of established respiratory distress syndrome. The optimal strategy for prophylactic therapy, however, remains controversial. When administered as an endotracheal bolus immediately after delivery, surfactant mixes with the absorbing fetal lung fluid and may reach the alveoli before the onset of lung injury. This approach, however, causes a brief delay in the initiation of standard neonatal resuscitation, including positive pressure ventilation, and is associated with a risk for surfactant delivery into the right main stem bronchus or esophagus. As an alternative approach, surfactant prophylaxis may be administered in small aliquots soon after resuscitation and confirmation of endotracheal tube position. Although this strategy has substantial logistical advantages in clinical practice, its efficacy has not been established. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the established benefits of the immediate bolus strategy for surfactant prophylaxis could still be achieved using a postventilatory aliquot strategy after initial standard resuscitation and stabilization. Multicenter randomized clinical trial with patients randomized before delivery to immediate bolus or postventilatory aliquot therapy. Inborn premature infants delivered to mothers at an estimated gestational age of 24[0/7] to 28[6/7] weeks. Those infants who were randomized to the immediate bolus strategy were intubated as rapidly as possible after birth, and a 3-mL intratracheal bolus of calf lung surfactant extract (Infasurf) was administered before the initiation of positive pressure ventilation. Those infants who were randomized to the postventilatory aliquot strategy received standard resuscitation measures with intubation by 5 minutes of age, if not required earlier. At 10 minutes after birth, 3 mL of surfactant was administered in 4 divided aliquots of 0.75 mL each. Patients in both groups were eligible to receive up to three additional doses of surfactant as rescue therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit, if needed. The primary outcome variable was survival to discharge to home. Secondary variables included neonatal complications and requirement for oxygen therapy at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. Among three centers, 651 infants were enrolled and randomized before delivery. Survival to d