Marked versus unmarked tip catheter for less invasive surfactant administration: A crossover randomised controlled manikin trial

AimLess invasive surfactant administration is becoming increasingly popular, but health-care providers may experience some difficulties in achieving the correct positioning of the catheter in the trachea. We compared catheters with marked versus unmarked tips in terms of correct depth positioning in the trachea, total time, number of attempts and participant's opinion on using the device in a manikin model. MethodsA randomised controlled crossover trial of surfactant administration with less invasive surfactant administration catheters with marked versus unmarked tip in a preterm infant manikin. Fifty tertiary hospital consultants and paediatric residents with previous experience in surfactant administration participated. The primary outcome measure was the positioning of the device at the correct depth in the trachea. The secondary outcome measures were the total time and the number of attempts for positioning the device in the trachea, and participant's opinion on using the device. ResultsCorrect depth in the trachea was achieved by 38 (76%) and 28 (56%) participants using the catheters with marked and unmarked tip, respectively (P = 0.04). Median time of device positioning (P = 0.08) and number of attempts (P = 0.13) were not statistically different between the two catheters. Participants found the catheter with the marked tip easier to use (P = 0.007), especially concerning the insertion in the trachea (P = 0.04) and the positioning at the correct depth (P = 0.004). ConclusionsIn a preterm manikin model, the marked tip catheter offered a higher chance of achieving the correct depth of the device in the trachea and was favoured by the participants.