Acute Neonatal Respiratory Failure

Acute respiratory failure requiring assisted ventilation is one of the most common reasons for admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Respiratory failure is the inability to maintain either normal delivery of oxygen to the tissues or normal removal of carbon dioxide from the tissues. It occurs when there is an imbalance between the respiratory workload and ventilatory strength and endurance. Definitions are somewhat arbitrary but suggested laboratory criteria for respiratory failure include two or more of the following: PaCO(2) > 60 mmHg, PaO(2) < 50 mmHg or O(2) saturation <80 % with an FiO(2) of 1.0 and pH < 7.25 (Wen et al. 2004).