부산대학교 도서관

Objective To determine the role of heated humidified high flow therapy (HHHFT) as primary respiratory support in spontaneously breathing moderate-late, very and extreme preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) at a tertiary care hospital from a developing country.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Neonatal intensive care unit of Indus Hospital and Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.Patients All preterm neonates with RDS and who received HHHFT as primary respiratory support were included retrospectively, while neonates with orofacial anomalies, congenital heart and lung diseases other than RDS, abdominal wall defects, encephalopathy, congenital pneumonia and received continuous positive airway pressure or invasive ventilation were excluded.Interventions HHHFT as primary respiratory support for RDS.Main outcome measures Effectiveness, duration, failure rate and complications of HHHFT as a primary respiratory support in moderate-late, very and extremely preterm neonates were evaluated.Results The cohort included 138 neonates during a period of 12 months. The median gestational age was 32 weeks, and the median birth weight was 1607 g. Grade 1–2 RDS was seen in 97%, surfactant instillation was done in 10.8% and HHHFT was provided in all the neonates as primary respiratory support. The total duration of HHHFT support was