Latest trends in childcare discussed at seminar

Chandigarh, Mar 2 (UNI) A new kind of artificial respiration- high frequency ventilation has proved successful in saving many young- lives, said Prof P Rimensberger from world-renowned swiss authority on newborn ventilation.

In this mode, respiratory rates, of several hundred per minute are used to normalise oxygen and carbon-di-oxide, speaking at the International CME and advanced course in paediatric intensive care at PGI.

Prof P Kochanek, from the US, while discussing the current treatment of cardio-respiratory arrest, at the symposium on resuscitation, said mild cooling during CPR was more effective in after restoring circulation.

''Mild optimized cooling in paediatric neuro-intensive care showed promise,'' he said, adding that high body temperature during resuscitation could prove very detrimental.

Prof A Argent from Republic of South Africa said that upper airway obstructions in children were commoner than adults because of anatomical differences and stressed that rapid sequence intubation was an important strategy for securing the airway.

Dr Praveen Kumar, Additional Professor in PGI, spoke on a special medicine that is squirted into the trachea of premature newborns, called 'surfactant', noting that the naturally derived surfactants were better than synthetic ones.

Dr Marraro from Italy also advocated the role of surfactant in older children saying it had shown promise in treating bronchiolitis, severe pneumonia, ARDS and lung contusion, though in ARDS due to sepsis, increased mortality had been reported.

Newer modes of ventilation were discussed by Prof Edwin van der Voort, Prof Rimensberger and Dr Girish Gupta.

UNI