There are two ways to help premature babies breathe. Both HFNC and CPAP are commonly used in our NICU. CPAP, which helps your baby breathe without a tube in their windpipe (intubation or ventilator), delivers oxygen and air by pressure through either small prongs in the nose or a nose mask, keeping your baby's airways open. HFNC provides heated and humidified oxygen and air by small prongs in the nose that does not use high pressure to the airways. Our goals are to reduce long term complications such as lung disease of prematurity, also called Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). BPD causes lung damage/scarring, need for a ventilator or oxygen, brain/neurological impairment etc. In recent years, HFNC has become a common choice for care. There is no clear agreement in previous research which way may be best to reduce BPD.
The purpose of this pilot study is to compare if keeping infants on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) support for an extended period of time until they are 32 weeks corrected gestational age or 1250 grams (approximately 2 pounds and 12 ounces) will decrease their degree of lung disease as compared to weaning their respiratory support to HFNC (high flow nasal cannula).