NEW DELHI: A leading private hospital in Delhi has successfully delivered surfactant in the lungs of a pre-term born child, who was suffering from respiratory issues, without using any invasive technique which it claimed to be the first in the country.
According to the doctors, this new technique called Surfactant Administration through Laryngeal mask Supraglottic Airway (SALSA) has been used globally for a couple of years now but it was used first time in India at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
The case report has been published in the latest edition of the reputed medical journal Current Medicine Research & Practice, they added. For preterm neonates whose lungs are not well developed at the time of birth, surfactant therapy has been the mainstay of their treatment. It is a special liquid delivered into the immature lungs of preterm-born children using endotracheal intubation.
However, according to Dr Satish Saluja, who led the case, the technique is associated with more than one problem. “Delivery of surfactant through endotracheal intubation has been the most commonly used technique. But, there are two major problems associated with it. One, it requires expertise, and second that it is associated with complications. In addition, there is also an increased risk of chronic lung disease,” he said.
Saluja emphasized that when the Supraglottic Airway Device (SAD), through SALSA, is used to deliver surfactant, there are certain benefits. “As the device does not require visualization of the vocal cords, it is relatively fast and easy. The skills required for SALSA are meagre compared to the expertise needed for intubation,” he added.
Saluja further said that recently, there have been some reports about the use of this device to deliver surfactant globally, so the hospital decided to try the technique on a preterm female baby.