Health encyclopaedia

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Treatment of Respiratory distress syndrome

In the early stages, giving oxygen by mask can raise the level of oxygen of the blood, and if the condition does not get worse this is all that is required.

If the condition worsens, a tube must be passed into the windpipe (trachea) and sealed in place, and mechanical ventilation used to force oxygen into the lungs and inflate the air sacs, so that the volume of the lungs actually increases.

Since 1990 surfactants have been used routinely in treating respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants on artificial ventilation. They are given by way of the tube in the throat. The results are excellent.

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