effect of bubble and ventilator-derived continuous positive airway pressure on the management of respiratory distress syndrome in premature neonates

Background: in this study, we aimed to compare ventilator-derived and bubble continuous positive airway pressure (cpap) in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of vali-e-asr hospital, birjand, iran, in 2014.methods: this cohort study was conducted among 68 patients assigned into two groups. the neonates in group a (32 infants) were treated with bubble cpap and those in group b (36 infants) were treated with a ventilator-derived cpap. the protocol of treatment was applying cpap with the positive end-expiratory pressure (peep) of 5-6 cm h2o and fraction of inspired oxygen equivalent to 30-40%, depending on the gestational age. in case of need for higher oxygen levels to maintain oxygen saturation of arterial blood (spo2) (90-95%), surfactant was administered and additional peep was applied (up to 8 cm h2o). data analysis was performed using independent t-test and chi-squared in the spss software, version 18.results: the duration of cpap and oxygen therapy was 1.67±1.22 days and 3.57±2.67 days in group a and 2.09±1.53 days (p=0.21) and 4.67±3.74 days (p=0.16) in group b, respectively. there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of discharge weight and surfactant dosage (p=0.042 and p=0.007, respectively). moreover, although the length of stay in hospital in the ventilation group was almost 4 days longer than the other group, there was no significant difference between the groups in this regard.conclusion: there was no significant difference between bubble cpap and ventilator-derived cpap. moreover, further studies with larger sample size are recommended.