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 pic