| Title | Predictors of successful extubation of preterm low-birth-weight infants with respiratory distress syndrome. |
| Author(s) | Szymankiewicz M, Vidyasagar D, Gadzinowski J. |
| Source | Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 6, No. 1, Pages 44-49 |
| Publication Date | Jan. 2005 |
| Abstract | OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to measure pulmonary mechanics in infants with respiratory distress syndrome before extubation and to correlate pulmonary function values with successful extubation. DESIGN: Clinical study. SETTING: Neonatal intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Fifty-one infants (birth weight, 1158.6 +/- 150.6 g; gestational age, 29.1 +/- 2.0 wks). INTERVENTIONS: Ventilation and daily ventilatory management. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 51 infants studied, 35 (60.8%) were successfully extubated, whereas 16 (39.2%) required reintubation and mechanical ventilation within 72 hrs after extubation. All patients met the clinical and biochemical criteria for extubation. Variables of artificial ventilation before extubation were minimal in all the studied cases (Fio(2) 6 mL/kg, minute ventilation of >309 mL/kg/min, work of breathing of <0.172 J/L, dynamic compliance of >/=1 mL/cm H(2)O/kg, and resistance of airways of |