Volume-targeted ventilation in newborn infants

Mechanical ventilation via an endotracheal tube remains a ‘standard of care’ for infants with severe respiratory failure. Ventilation saves lives but can also cause lung injury and evidence suggests that excessive or inadequate tidal volume delivery causes more lung injury (volutrauma) than unregulated inspiratory pressure delivery (barotrauma). Volume-targeted ventilation (VTV) has been shown to produce better short-term outcomes than pressure-targeted ventilation and is used to aim to minimise lung injury. However, data are limited with regards to medium- and long-term outcomes and there are no published data comparing efficacy and safety of different modes of VTV.