Bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Lungs

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Alternative Names:

BPD
Treatment:

Additional ventilator support is usually required to deliver pressure to the lungs to keep lung tissue inflated, and to deliver supplemental oxygen. Pressures and oxygen concentrations are slowly reduced. When the infant is weaned from the ventilator, oxygen may continue by a mask or nasal tube for several weeks to months.

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Infants with BPD are usually fed by tubes inserted into the stomach (NG tube). Extra calories are needed due to the effort of breathing. Fluids may be restricted, and the infant may be given diuretics (medications that remove water from the body) to keep the lungs from filling with fluid.

Additional medications may include corticosteroids, bronchodilators (to reduce hyperactivity of the airways), and surfactants (to lower the surface tension of the lung).

Parents of these infants require emotional support, as the resolution of the disease is often very slow, and hospitalization may be prolonged.

Expectations (prognosis):

Improvement is generally gradual. Some infants may require oxygen therapy for many months. Some infants may not survive with this condition.

Complications:

Babies who have experienced BPD are at a greater risk for developing recurrent respiratory infections requiring hospitalization (see pneumonia). Many of the cystic changes of the airways (bronchioles) that occur in babies with bronchopulmonary dysplasia are permanent.

Calling your health care provider:

If your baby had BPD, watch for any breathing problems. Call your health care provider if any signs of a respiratory infection are present.

References:

Murray J, Nadel J. Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2000.

Smith VC. Trends in severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia rates between 1994 and 2002. J Pediatr. 2005; 146(4): 469-73.

Cogo PE. Surfactant kinetics in preterm infants on mechanical ventilation who did and did not develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Crit Care Med. 2003; 31(5): 1532-8.