Efficacy of a new technique - INtubate-RECruit-SURfactant-Extubate - "IN-REC-SUR-E" - in preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Although beneficial in clinical practice, the INtubate-SURfactant-Extubate (IN-SUR-E) method is not successful in all preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome, with a reported failure rate ranging from 19 to 69 %. One of the possible mechanisms responsible for the unsuccessful IN-SUR-E method, requiring subsequent re-intubation and mechanical ventilation, is the inability of the preterm lung to achieve and maintain an “optimal” functional residual capacity. The importance of lung recruitment before surfactant administration has been demonstrated in animal studies showing that recruitment leads to a more homogeneous surfactant distribution within the lungs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the application of a recruitment maneuver using the high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) modality just before the surfactant administration followed by rapid extubation (INtubate-RECruit-SURfactant-Extubate: IN-REC-SUR-E) with IN-SUR-E alone in spontaneously breathing preterm infants requiring nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) as initial respiratory support and reaching pre-defined CPAP failure criteria.

Methods/design

In this study, 206 spontaneously breathing infants born at 24⁺⁰–27⁺⁶ weeks’ gestation and failing nCPAP during the first 24 h of life, will be randomized to receive an HFOV recruitment maneuver (IN-REC-SUR-E) or no recruitment maneuver (IN-SUR-E) just prior to surfactant administration followed by prompt extubation. The primary outcome is the need for mechanical ventilation within the first 3 days of life. Infants in both groups will be considered to have reached the primary outcome when they are not extubated within 30 min after surfactant administration or when they meet the nCPAP failure criteria after extubation.

Discussion

From all available data no definitive evidence exists about a positive effect of recruitment before surfactant instillation, but a rationale exists for testing the following hypothesis: a lung recruitment maneuver performed with a step-by-step Continuous Distending Pressure increase during High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation (and not with a sustained inflation) could have a positive effects in terms of improved surfactant distribution and consequent its major efficacy in preterm newborns with respiratory distress syndrome. This represents our challenge.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02482766. Registered on 1 June 2015.

Are there any strategies to improve neonatal outcomes associated with epidural analgesia in labor?

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK

This study was aimed at evaluating the relationship between epidural analgesia and perinatal outcomes and at verifying the advisability of procedural changes in assistance to labor.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

From January to December 2012, we conducted a retrospective case-control study on 1,963 laboring pregnant women admitted to the Parma University Hospital. We considered two groups: Group 1 received epidural analgesia and Group 2 received no analgesia. Women with elective cesarean sections, multiple pregnancies or deliveries at <34 weeks were excluded. We recorded maternal data (age, type of delivery, obstetric procedures, premature rupture of membranes, screenings for Group-B Streptococcus) and neonatal data (birth weight, gestational age, 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores, diagnosis at discharge).

RESULTS

Of the 1,963 laboring women, 287 requested analgesia and 1,676 did not. We found no significant differences between the two groups in the rates of cesarean section, clavicle fracture, and 1-minute Apgar score between 4 and 7. By contrast, we observed a higher rate of instrumental deliveries (p<0.01), fetal occiput posterior position (p<0.05), neonatal cephalohematoma (p=0.01) in Group 1 than in Group 2 . In Group 1 we also found a higher number of newborns with 1-minute Apgar score of 3 or less (p=0.016). In addition, a significantly higher number of women in Group 1 had fever during labor (p=0.003, odds ratio 5.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that strategies should be activated to overcome or limit the side-effects of analgesia in labor through prospective and multidisciplinary studies. 

Multiple joint dislocations: an additional skeletal finding in Lowry-Wood syndrome?

We report on the case of a 17-year-old boy with clinical features compatible with Lowry-Wood syndrome: microcephaly, short stature, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, tapetoretinal degeneration, and mental retardation. Bilateral restricted elbow extension, knock knees and hip dislocation were also present. Radiographs showed evidence of radial dislocation due to the absence of the radial heads, lateral dislocation of both patellae, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia that was more severe at the proximal femoral epiphyses, and dislocation of both hips with severe hip dysplasia. The patient developed a behavioral disorder at age 15. Conventional karyotyping was normal (46,XY). Molecular karyotyping, performed through array-based competitive genomic hybridization, showed copy number variants that were probably benign. We suggest that multiple joint dislocations, including the patellae, may be a sign of Lowry-Wood syndrome.