Early Care Of The Pre-term Infant

  • The first goal of care is to establish adequate ventilation and achieve physiological homeostasis.
  • Most pre-term infants, particularly those born very early, require some period of ventilation care, often in combination with surfactant treatment. Ventilation carries several risk factors:
    • damage to lung tissue, bronchopulmonary displasia, which can result in chronic lung disease infancy
    • difficulty in maintaining an adequate exchange of O2 and CO2, which can result in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
    • increase in extension positioning of the head, neck and upper trunk which can result in delays in the development of posture control and movement
  • Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilation reduces the risk of damage to lung tissues and improves the regulation of O2 and CO2 exchange.
CPAP

 

 



Chest X-ray of neonate on CPAP before and after surfactant treatment.
iDevice icon Reflection

How would placing the pre-term neonate in prone improve ventilatory capacity?

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