Effect of nitric oxide inhalation for the treatment of neonatal pulmonary hypertension

H.-W. Wu, Z.-G. Li, G. Liu, G.-Z. Lu, H.-Y. Liang

Department of Neonatal Medicine, Xuzhou Children’s Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China. zhenguangli29@163.com

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of nitric oxide (NO) inhalation for the treatment of neonatal pulmonary hypertension.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-six patients with neonatal pulmonary hypertension who were treated for the first time Xuzhou Children’s Hospital from January 2013 to January 2016 were selected and randomly divided into the observation group and control group, with 43 cases each. Patients in the control group were treated with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, while those in the observation group were treated with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation combined with inhalational NO therapy. The therapeutic effects were compared.

RESULTS: Over time, fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) of patients in both groups decreased, and the FiO2 levels of patients in the observation group at the different time points were lower than those of the control group; oxygen pressure (PaO2) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) showed an upward trend; the PaO2 and SpO2 levels in the observation group were higher than those of the control group at all time points. Oxygenation index (OI) increased, and the OI levels of the observation group at each time point were higher than those of the control group. Pulmonary artery pressure decreased at each time point, and the levels in the observation group were lower than those of the control group. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of oxygen therapy, and mortality in the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Using NO inhalation to treat neonatal pulmonary hypertension can significantly improve oxygen supply, reduce pulmonary artery pressure, shorten treatment time, and reduce mortality. It is, therefore, worthy of clinical application.

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