Suman Sudha Tirkey1 , Rakesh Kumar Verma2
BACKGROUND Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is among the common complications in infants born before 37 weeks. In India the incidence of RDS ranges from 0.69 - 8.3 %. CPAP is a less invasive method frequently used in premature infants having RDS). We wanted to assess the outcome of preterm neonates treated with CPAP. METHODS Prospective observational study was done in NICU of a tertiary care hospital, Raipur, Chhattisgarh in central India, during April-2014 to April-2015. Eligible Children were included in the study and evaluated using SAS (Silverman Anderson Scoring), blood gas analysis and pulse oximetry. Quantitative variables were presented as mean and standard deviation; categorical variables were presented as frequency and percentages. RESULTS Out of total 50 babies on CPAP, 38 improved with success rate of 76 % whereas 12 babies (24 %) failed requiring higher mode of ventilation. CPAP was more successful among females (n = 22) with a success rate of 88.0 %. CPAP proved more effective in moderate grade RDS with success rate of 83.3 % (statistically significant p < 0.05). Based on SAS score, shows the improvement in respiratory distress following CPAP. CONCLUSIONS Nasal CPAP is safe effective, non-invasive means of respiratory support in RDS. It can considerably decrease the requirement for mechanical ventilation (MV) and surfactant therapy.
