# Short-Term Effects over Time of Endotracheal Suctioning on Very Low Birth Weight Premature Infants with RDS

## TL;DR

This study examines how endotracheal suctioning affects lung impedance in very low birth weight premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome over time.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel approach to assess lung impedance changes using electrical impedance tomography after suctioning in preterm infants.

## Key findings

- EELZ decreased and DeltaZ increased significantly up to 10 minutes post-suction.
- No significant hypoxemic events were observed during the study period.
- Changes in impedance persisted for at least 10 minutes following suctioning.

## Abstract

Background: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a frequent cause of invasive respiratory support. Our study aims to assess end-expiratory lung impedance (EELZ) and DeltaZ changes post-suction using electrical impedance tomography. Methods: Very low birth weight infants with gestational ages less than 32 weeks under conventional mechanical ventilation with an open endotracheal suction system were included in this study. Data was evaluated at four time periods: immediately after the completion of suctioning and at 1, 5 and 10 min marks post-suction. Results: Sixteen patients participated in this study, during which a total of 31 suctioning events were recorded. There were no significant hypoxemic events during the analyzed timeframe. Over a 10 min period following suction, there was a consistent change in EELZ and DeltaZ, with EELZ decreasing and DeltaZ increasing accordingly (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that EELZ and DeltaZ changes persist even 10 min after suctioning using an open endotracheal suction system.