Surfactant therapy for acute respiratory failure in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Exogenous surfactant is used to treat acute respiratory failure in children, although the benefits and harms in this setting are not clear. The objective of the present systematic review is to assess the effect of exogenous pulmonary surfactant on all-cause mortality in children mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure.

Methods

We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Ovid Healthstar databases, the bibliographies of included trials and review articles, conference proceedings and trial registries. We included prospective, randomized, controlled trials of pulmonary surfactant that enrolled intubated and mechanically ventilated children with acute respiratory failure. We excluded trials that exclusively enrolled neonates or patients with asthma. Two

SUBMITTER: Duffett M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2206432 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature