Elective high-frequency oscillatory ventilation versus conventional ventilation for acute pulmonary dysfunction in...

Respiratory failure due to lung immaturity is a major cause of mortality in preterm infants. Although the use of intermittent positive pressure ventilation in neonates with respiratory failure saves lives, its use is associated with lung injury and chronic lung disease (CLD). A newer form of ventilation called high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) has been shown to result in less lung injury in experimental studies.

The objective of this review is to determine the effect of the elective use of HFOV as compared to conventional ventilation (CV) on the incidence of CLD, mortality and other complications associated with prematurity and assisted ventilation in preterm infants who are mechanically ventilated for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).

Searches were made of the Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, previous reviews including cross-references, abstracts, conferences and symposia proceedings, expert informants, journal hand searching by the Cochrane Collaboration, mainly in the English language. The search was updated in January 2009.

Randomized controlled trials comparing HFOV and CV in preterm or low birth weight infants with pulmonary dysfunction, mainly due to RDS, who required assisted ventilation. Randomization and commencement of treatment needed to be as soon as possible after the start of CV and usually in the first 12 h of life.

The methodological quality of each trial was independently reviewed by the various authors. The standard effect measures are relative risk (RR) and risk difference (RD). From 1/RD the number needed to treat to produce one outcome were calculated. For all measures of effect, 95% confidence intervals were used. In subgroup analyses the 99% CIs are also given for summary RRs in the text. Meta-analysis was performed using a fixed effect model. Where heterogeneity was over 50%, the random effects RR is also given.

Seventeen eligible studies of 3,652 infants were included. Meta-analysis comparing HFOV with CV revealed no evidence of effect on mortality at 28-30 days of age or at approximately term equivalent age. These results were consistent across studies and in subgroup analyses. The effect of HFOV on CLD in survivors at term equivalent gestational age was inconsistent across studies and the reduction was of borderline significance overall. The effect was similar in trials with a high lung volume strategy for HFOV targeting at very low FiO(2) and trials with a high lung volume strategy with somewhat higher or unspecified target FiO(2). Subgroups of trials showed a significant reduction in CLD with HFOV when no surfactant was used, when piston oscillators were used for HFOV, when lung protective strategies for CV were not used, when randomization occurred at two to six hours of age, and when inspiratory:expiratory ratio of 1:2 was used for HFOV. In the meta-analysis of all trials, pulmonary air leaks occurred more frequently in the HFOV group. In some studies, short-term neurological morbidity with HFOV was found, but this effect was not statistically significant overall. The subgroup of two trials not using a high-volume strategy with HFOV found increased rates of grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage and of periventricular leukomalacia. An adverse effect of HFOV on long-term neurodevelopment was found in one large trial but not in the five other trials that reported this outcome. The rate of retinopathy of prematurity is reduced overall in the HFOV group.