Nasal continuous positive airway pressure

The treatment of respiratory distress syndrome was revolutionized in 1971 with the work of Gregory and co-workers describing the improvement in PaO₂ and survival associated with use of continuous positive airway pressure. Many studies have shown that there is a tendency towards improving survival rate in respiratory distress syndrome and the value of early treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure has been confirmed in multiple studies. In most tertiary centers today, infants appear to be managed preferentially with mechanical ventilation. The art of sustaining infants with continuous positive airway pressure has been lost. The value of nasal continuous positive airway pressure in preterm infants was recently questioned. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure is currently applied in most neonatal care units in Denmark using the Benveniste device along with mono- or binasal prongs. By adopting this policy, a reduction in use of ventilator treatment was obvious in the Department of Neonatology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure is a relatively easy, effective, safe and inexpensive form of therapy for neonatal respiratory distress and apnea. Nursing care is paramount for success in treating infants with nasal continuous positive airway pressure.