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Published on: October 31, 2025
Sustained Aeration of Infant Lungs (SAIL) trial: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Elizabeth E Foglia1,2, Louise S Owen3,4,5, Marta Thio6,7,8
1Division of Neonatology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th and Civic Center Blvd., 2nd Floor Main Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. foglia@email.chop.edu.
Background:
Extremely preterm infants require assistance recruiting the lung to establish a functional residual capacity after birth. Sustained inflation (SI) combined with positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) may be a superior method of aerating the lung compared with intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) with PEEP in extremely preterm infants. The Sustained Aeration of Infant Lungs (SAIL) trial was designed to study this question.
Methods/Design:
This multisite prospective randomized controlled unblinded trial will recruit 600 infants of 23 to 26 weeks gestational age who require respiratory support at birth. Infants in both arms will be treated with PEEP 5 to 7 cm H2O throughout the resuscitation. The study intervention consists of performing an initial SI (20 cm H20 for 15 seconds) followed by a second SI (25 cm H2O for 15 seconds), and then PEEP with or without IPPV, as needed. The control group will be treated with initial IPPV with PEEP. The primary outcome is the combined endpoint of bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death at 36 weeks post-menstrual age.
Trial Registration:
www.clinicaltrials.gov , Trial identifier NCT02139800 , Registered 13 May 2014.
