Echography-guided Surfactant THERapy (ESTHER) For Preterm Infants With Respiratory Failure

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is the use of ultrasound by the bedside provider in real time to answer a specific question and guide medical management. POCUS can be used to diagnose the severity of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) through a lung ultrasound score. Lung ultrasound scores have also been shown to predict if an infant is treated with an initial dose of surfactant. Therefore, using lung ultrasound scores to guide surfactant therapy for RDS will likely lead to earlier surfactant therapy and may improve short-term respiratory outcomes. This study will test this theory by comparing lung ultrasound score-guided surfactant therapy for premature infants with RDS with our current surfactant administration guidelines.