Developmental outcomes at the age of two years for very premature babies managed with nasal prong continuous positive airway pressure.

AIMS: To describe the developmental progress of very premature babies at the age of 2 years, who were managed in an era where nasal prong continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was the preferred method for the management of initial respiratory disease.

METHODS: Two groups of very premature babies of <32 weeks gestation were compared, the first being managed with an intubation and mandatory ventilation approach, and the second being managed with a CPAP approach. The groups are compared with regard to the presence of brain injury, retinopathy and requiring discharge home on oxygen and then at 2 years, for language impairment, non-ambulatory cerebral palsy and significant developmental delay. The study is designed as an audit of data collected prospectively and longitudinally for babies born from 1998 to 2002.

RESULTS: A significant number of babies were successfully managed on CPAP in the second era and significantly fewer received post-natal steroids. The number being discharged home on oxygen, brain injury and retinopathy were similar in the two groups. Developmental outcome assessed at 2 years of age was the same in both eras.

CONCLUSIONS: A CPAP approach to the management of initial respiratory disease in premature babies of less than 32 weeks gestation at birth is associated with no measurable developmental advantage or disadvantage at 2 years of age.