A Prospective Observational Study of Video Laryngoscopy Versus Direct Laryngoscopy for Insertion of a Thin Endotracheal Catheter for Surfactant Administration in Newborn Infants

Many premature babies have breathing difficulty after birth and receive help with a breathing machine (nasal continuous positive airway pressure, NCPAP). Some of the babies whose breathing gets worse despite NCPAP are treated with surfactant, a medication that is given directly into their windpipe (trachea). Some of the babies who are given surfactant get it through a ventilation tube (endotracheal tube, ETT), while others get it through a thin catheter that is too small for ventilation. When doctors insert a tube or a thin catheter into the windpipe of a baby, they use an instrument called a laryngoscope, which has a light at its tip, to identify the entrance. Most often doctors look directly into the baby's mouth with a standard laryngoscope to identify the entrance to the windpipe. However, newer video laryngoscopes have a camera along with the light at their tip, which displays a picture of the entrance to the windpipe on a screen. In a study performed at one hospital, doctors inserted an ETT first time more often when they used a video laryngoscope.

The investigators are doing a study at many hospitals where doctors usually use a standard laryngoscope to insert tubes and thin catheters into a baby's trachea by looking directly into the mouth. Each hospital will switch one-by-one to using a video laryngoscope when inserting a tube. The investigators will compare the information we collect to see if more babies who have a tube inserted first time without falls in their oxygen levels or heart rate with a video laryngoscope. The investigators will also collect information on babies who have a thin catheter inserted to compare whether doctors use fewer attempts when they use a video laryngoscope.