Lung damage with, earlyborn can be avoided

The lung from earlyborn is usually unreif and threatens when breathing out to collapse. Because you are missing a protective film for the alveoli, also to Surfactant mentioned. But the presently usual gift of Surfactant under machine artificial respiration can damage the lung. Therefore the Neonatologen at the university clinic Bonn does without an artificial respiration and a new method developed to give Surfactant.


Bonn - came Nile three months too early into the world - with a birth weight of somewhat over 500 gram a maximum risk child. Because its unreife lung produced still no Surfactant. This mixture from proteins and fats lowers the surface tension of the alveoli. Without Surfactant the alveoli - like a tent without bars - collapse when breathing out in itself. The children develop a lethal difficulty in breathing syndrome. Therefore they were intubiert so far directly after the birth with a hose by the nose through into the bronchial tube and several days were artificially respirated by machine.

The end of the 80's imported additional gift of Surfactant over the artificially respirating hose into the lung, won from animal lungs, improved the chances of survival of small earlyborn enormously. “The machine artificial respiration endangers the lung nevertheless, since it can overstretch the sensitive fabric. Possible consequence is a Bronchopulmonale Dysplasie”, says Markus Treichel, upper physician in the department of Neonatologie at the university clinic Bonn. The babies concerned suffer from difficulty in breathing, increased heart frequency and high calorie consumption by the increased breath work - heavy breath way infections, right heart load as well as growth and development disturbances threaten.

Small earlyborn can breathe

Therefore the Bonn Neonatologen of Nile offered parents to give Surfactant shortly after the birth under spontaneous respiration thus without connection of a respirator. “All necessary one should be done for our child”, says Ulrike L. on 11 November 2007 was it so far, and Nile came loud crying into the world. “He wanted to breathe and needed only our support. In former times was underestimated, what the earlyborn can do, say already everything - a paradigm shift in the medicine” its firstsupplying child physician Axel Heep, leading upper physician to the Bonn university Neonatologie. In the first minutes after the birth the Bonn Neonatologen led carefully a probe - as thin as a Kugelschreibermine - across the nose into the upper respiratory system. There they gave Surfactant to about 30 drops to the lung, which distributed itself there.

The procedure took only some minutes, however much experience requires. “The probe is smaller than the larynx, and the children can breathe further. With an intubation against it the hose moves the respiratory system”, explains Treichel. Usually a gift is enough, because rapidly after the birth the babies begin to produce even Surfactant. Subsequently, over a mask breathing air under easy positive pressure is transported into the respiratory system. This easy positive pressure keeps the lungs open. “The children breathe independently and adjust their respiration. We do not have to artificially respirate it by machine normally any longer, except them are exhausted or gotten sick at a pneumonia”, said Treichel.

Portion of the by machine artificially respirated children reduces

The team around Peter Bartmann, director of the Neonatologie at the university clinic Bonn, knew the portion of the by machine artificially respirated children, before the 33. Pregnancy week into the world came, from 65 per cent to 52 per cent lower. Besides the artificially respirating days of on the average eleven to five reduced days. “We could a gentler care of the Frühchen achieve and thus in addition the occurrence of a Bronchopulmonalen Dysplasie from 20 per cent to 9 per cent lower”, are pleased Treichel.

Also Nile no machine artificial respiration needed and is now also over five kilograms a normal healthy child. Since at the beginning of February is it with its parents at home and develops marvelously.

* earlyborn can be avoided
* Lung damage
* Treatments & Therapies