Dr Li Huang - new paper in Pediatrics

A recent economic evaluation published in Pediatrics led by Dr Li Huang and Prof. Kim Dalziel has compared two common treatments for newborns with respiratory distress.

Newborn respiratory distress syndrome was the No.1 most costly in-hospital pediatric condition. This economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomized control trial in 9 Australian special care nurseries, and showed that nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is more effective and on average cheaper as sole primary support. However, nasal High Flow (nHF) with back-up CPAP produced equivalent cost and effectiveness results. Thus, nontertiary special care nurseries choosing to use only 1 of the modes should choose CPAP. In units with both modes available, using nHF as first-line therapy may be acceptable if there is back-up CPAP.