Less Invasive Surfactant Administration (LISA) in Premature Neonates, using 5F feeding tube versus 2 mm Endotracheal tube – An Innovative, Pilot study

Introduction: Administration of LISA using thin and soft catheters like 5 F orogastric tube, though less invasive, is technically challenging and needs expertise. We hypothesized, use of a 2 mm Endotracheal (ET) tube for administration of LISA could be an easy and convenient alternative. Methods: This is a prospective, single-centric, quasi-random, pilot trial conducted in the inborn unit of a tertiary care hospital from May 2020 - December 2020. All the inborn preterm (28 - 34 weeks) neonates with respiratory distress requiring surfactant were alternately allocated to receive LISA using a 5 F infant feeding tube or an uncuffed 2.0 size ET tube. The primary outcome was successful administration of surfactant defined as a procedure without any need for positive pressure ventilation. Results: In our study, 25 neonates were enrolled in each arm. Administration of LISA using 2 mm ET tube was associated with better success of surfactant administration with lesser incidence of PPV (20 vs 11, p < 0.05), desaturation (5 vs 12, p < 0.05), and bradycardia (3 vs 10, p < 0.05) compared to LISAOG. Conclusions: Administration of LISA using a 2 mm ET is an easily adaptable and convenient alternative that is well tolerated by the neonates without any adverse effects.