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Low flow nasal cannula requirement among preterm infants: predictors and description of clinical course

Journal of Perinatology volume 42, pages 1680–1685 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

We aim to identify potential risk factors associated with longer duration of supplemental oxygen use in preterm infants at risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) to better inform families and weaning protocols.

Study design

This is a retrospective study of infants with a birth gestational age (GA) < 32 0/7 weeks admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between October 2017 and September 2019.

Results

A total of 172 infants met criteria for inclusion and analysis, of which 69 (40.1%) infants required LFNC. Risk factors for longer duration included lower birth GA or birth weight, increased ventilator days, and diagnosis of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). BPD was diagnosed in 69.6% who required LFNC, of which 47.8% were discharged on home oxygen.

Conclusion

Younger birth GA, lower birth weight, increased ventilator days, and presence of a PDA were identified as risk factors for longer LFNC duration.

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Fig. 1: Study Consort Diagram.

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Data availability

Data are available by request to Lawrence.Rhein@umassmemorial.org.

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Funding

This study was part of the University of Massachusetts Medical School “Senior Scholars” research program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Jaclyn Daigneault, Megan Horgan, Heather White & Lawrence Rhein

  2. Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Austin Lee

  3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Surgery, Boston, MA, USA

    Austin Lee

  4. Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Lawrence Rhein

Authors
  1. Jaclyn Daigneault
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  4. Austin Lee
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Contributions

1. Dr LR is responsible for the content of the paper, including the data and analysis. 2. LR and JD conceived and designed the study. LR is the principal investigator who oversaw the execution, analysis, and writing of the study. JD, MH, HW made substantial contributions to the acquisition of data and were involved in the analysis and interpretation of data. AL further analyzed the data and created the figures/graphs. JD wrote the draft of the paper. LR, JD, MG, and HW revised and edited the paper. All authors read and approved the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lawrence Rhein.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study was reviewed and approved by the UMass Chan Medical School Institutional Review Board (IRB). Informed consent was waived for this study.

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Daigneault, J., Horgan, M., White, H. et al. Low flow nasal cannula requirement among preterm infants: predictors and description of clinical course. J Perinatol 42, 1680–1685 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01498-z

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