ECALMIST Versus InSurE in Preterm Infant < 32 Weeks,Multicenter, Multinational RCT

Surfactant administration via 17 (5 French) gauge, 133 mm length vascular catheter. 5 ml/kg will be drawn up in a 5 or 10 ml syringe. The vascular catheter will be inserted through the vocal cords under direct vision using a standard laryngoscope with the appropriate blade for gestational age. The procedure will be done without removing the NCPAP. A bolus of surfactant of 0.25-0.5 ml will be administered, after observing the surfactant moving up and down as indication of accurate intubation of the trachea. The surfactant will be slowly injected by small pulses of 0.25-0.5 ml over 20-30 seconds, each bolus with 10 seconds apart. At the end of the procedure, the operator will flush the catheter with 0.5 ml of air before removing the catheter.

Patients who will receive surfactant via this technique will have their NCPAP removed and then they will be orally intubated with a standard endotracheal tube (ETT) using standard endotracheal intubation procedures using appropriate size ETT according to the birth weight. Bovine surfactant will be administered through the ETT using the same technique described above for arm 1. Manual lung inflation using a Jackson -Rees anesthesia bag at 20/5-cm H2O pressure will be performed during the surfactant instillation after which the patient will be extubated promptly as per the discretion of the neonatal team. Immediately following extubation, nCPAP support will be recommenced. No premedication, such as sedation or atropine, will be used during either procedure.