Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation in Premature Infants (NIPPV)

The immature lung of extremely low birth weight (ELBW, < 1000 g) infants is easily damaged by the placement of an endotracheal tube to deliver mechanical ventilation and oxygen. This and the total time of mechanical ventilation contributes to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Infants with BPD have an increased risk of later death or neuro-impairment. With the increasing survival of ELBW infants in the NICU, there has been a proportionate increase in the number of infants surviving with BPD.

Following invasive ventilation via an endotracheal tube (ETT), extubation to nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (nCPAP)ventilation is the standard approach. Currently, 40% of infants who are extubated and given nCPAP support fail, and require re-intubation. Previous work suggests that a less invasive respiratory support such as Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation (NIPPV), without an endotracheal tube is less injurious to the lung. NIPPV may thereby reduce the duration of invasive ventilator support, and aid successful early extubation. We hypothesize that the use of NIPPV leads to a higher rate of survival without BPD than standard therapy with nCPAP.

This randomized clinical trial is appropriately powered to compare NIPPV with nCPAP to detect effects on clinically relevant long-term outcomes, such as death and BPD at 36 weeks. This is a multi-national, randomized, open clinical trial of two different standard methods of providing non-invasive respiratory support to 1000 extremely preterm infants weighing less than 1000 grams at birth.