B Sun

Abstract

Surfactant replacement and inhaled nitric oxide are two important respiratory therapies for neonatal respiratory distress and persistent pulmonary hypertension. However, limitation of each therapy alone in various respiratory disorders raised questions as to whether we should use them in a combined manner, or in combination with other effective treatment modalities, so that the problems in both alveolar space and intrapulmonary vasculature may well be dealt with simultaneously. In recent years, a number of experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated that combined surfactant and inhaled nitric oxide consistently showed better effects than that of the independent therapy, suggesting that the adequate use of these two therapies may have a potential to improve clinical management of severe respiratory problems in infants and children.