Transporting neonates with nitric oxide: the 5-year ShandsCair experience

Traditionally, hypoxic respiratory failure in the newborn has been treated with supplemental oxygen, conventional mechanical ventilation, sedation, and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation. Despite appropriate management with these treatment modes, care for critically ill newborns often requires more invasive measures, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Although it may be life saving, ECMO requires cannulation and anticoagulation, which introduces significant risk of morbidity.