Implementing Volume-targeted Ventilation to Decrease Hypocarbia in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants during the First Week of Life: A Quality Improvement Project

Hypocarbia in neonates increases the risk of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Volume-targeted ventilation (VTV) is associated with decreased hypocarbia and other respiratory morbidities. We noticed a high incidence of hypocarbia in extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1,000 g) neonates in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Thus, we undertook a quality improvement project to decrease the incidence of hypocarbia (the occurrence of PCO(2) < 35 mm Hg) in ELBW neonates during the first week of life by 50% over 1 year. METHODS: Our major interventions were employing VTV as the primary mode of mechanical ventilation in neonates less than 28 weeks of gestation or ELBW at birth and increasing staff knowledge regarding hypocarbia. The baseline period spanned May–August 2016. We implemented the interventions in October 2016 and tracked the use of VTV and the incidence of hypocarbia during the first week of life for 12 months. RESULTS: We analyzed data on 28 and 77 patients in the baseline and postintervention periods, respectively. The use of VTV increased from 39% to 65%. However, the incidence of hypocarbia was not reduced (57% preintervention vs. 64% postintervention). In the postintervention cohort, the incidence of hypocarbia was comparable between VTV and other modes (60% vs. 70%; 95% confidence interval: −32%, 12%; P = 0.367), but we noted decreased blood gas sampling and earlier extubation in the VTV group (P = 0.002 and P = 0.046, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Successfully increasing VTV in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit did not decrease hypocarbia during the first week of life. However, we observed the safety of VTV and obtained other desirable results.