Login

Intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) with surfactant is the standard treatment for RDS. Initial attempts at artificial ventilation were done with negative pressure ventilators and subsequently with intermittent positive pressure ventilators. In 1960s, mechanical intermittent positive pressure ventilation became widely accepted as the standard treatment of RDS in newborn1. Although varying degrees of success was reported with assisted ventilation as therapy for RDS, in all series mortality was high when infants were less than 1500 grams or required ventilation before 24 hours of age.2,3