Risk Factors in Addition to Short and Long-Term Outcomes With Thin Catheter Surfactant Administration Failure in...

To evaluate the incidence of thin catheter surfactant administration (TCA) failure and compare short and long-term neonatal outcomes who failed TCA or did not.

Single-center retrospective cohort study. Infants between 25 and 30 weeks of gestational age with respiratory distress syndrome and receiving 200 mg/kg poractant alfa via thin catheter administration were included. TCA failure was defined as the need for early mechanical ventilation (< 72 h). Infants were divided into two groups those who failed TCA or those who did not.

The TCA failure rate was 24.6%. Initial oxygen requirement (0.39% vs. 0.36%) and the number of small for gestational age infants were significantly higher in the TCA failure group (15% vs. 7.9%). Infants who failed TCA had a higher pneumothorax (6.7% vs. 1.1%, p = 0.03), BPD (15% vs.5.5%, p = 0.02), late-onset sepsis (36.7% vs. 18%, p = 0.04), retinopathy of prematurity rates (11.7% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.02) and an increased duration of respiratory support. However, Bayley Scales of Infant Development II scores were comparable between groups at 18 and 26 months of corrected age.

Infants who fail TCA are at increased risk for short-term complications despite favourable long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. Identifying infants at risk of TCA failure may help early prevention of morbidities and individualise their management.