A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. This allows the fetus to develop. After 40 weeks, the organs are typically fully developed. A baby’s lungs cannot fully develop if he or she is born too young. They might not function as they should. Healthy lungs are essential for general health. The condition is known as neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. It usually occurs in babies born prematurely.
Children with neonatal RDS suffer from breathing difficulties. Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome is the medical term for this condition.
Causes of Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Respiratory distress syndrome newborn can be described as a kind of neonatal respiratory disorder that is usually caused due to the absence of surfactants within the lung. The fetus’s lungs start producing surfactants in the third trimester of pregnancy, weeks 26 to labor and birth.
A surfactant is a coating that covers the insides of those air sacs, also known as alveoli, inside the lung. This keeps the lungs in good shape to achieve breathing following birth. Without enough surfactant, lungs could collapse when the baby exhales.
The baby must struggle harder to breathe, and they may not receive enough oxygen to sustain the organs in the body. Full-term babies can develop RDS due to faulty genes influencing their bodies to produce surfactants.
You can consult the best neonatology hospital in Coimbatore if you doubt your child is suffering from respiratory distress syndrome.
Signs of Respiratory Distress in Infants
Children who have trouble breathing frequently show signs that they need to work harder to live or aren’t getting enough oxygen, indicating breathing issues.
Here are some indicators that could suggest that your child may not be receiving enough oxygen. It is crucial to know the symptoms of respiratory distress so that you are able to react appropriately:
1. Breathing Rate:
The rise in the number of breaths per minute can indicate that a person has difficulty breathing or is not getting enough oxygen.
2. Heart Rate:
Insufficient oxygen levels can trigger an increase in the heart rate. If blood pressure is poor, the heart could struggle to get sufficient oxygen-rich blood to organs. In reaction, the body may raise the heart rate to deliver more oxygenated blood towards organs.
3. Colour Changes:
A bluish hue that appears in the area around your mouth, the inner surface of lips, or on the fingernails can be a sign that a person isn’t receiving enough oxygen as they need. The skin’s colour could also appear pale or grey.
4. Grunting:
Grunting occurs when a person breathes the body’s way of maintaining the flow of air in the lungs so that they remain open during breathing.
5. The Nose Widening:
The nostrils’ openings are widening while breathing can signify that one needs to be more active in breathing.
6. Retractions:
The chest seems to sink under the neck or the breastbone as you take every breath. This is one way to try to get more air into the lungs.
7. Sweating:
It is possible to notice an increase in sweating on the head. However, the skin isn’t warm. The skin might feel calm, or it may feel clammy. This can happen when the breathing rate is fast.
8. Wheezing:
A whistling, tight, or musical sound that is heard every breath could suggest your airways might be narrower, which makes it harder to breathe.
9. Use of Muscles:
The muscles in the neck appear to move when your child breathes, which is evident underneath the ribs or the muscles that connect the ribs.
10. Feeling Exhausted:
Low oxygen levels can cause your child to appear exhausted and could be a sign of respiratory fatigue.
11. Body Postures:
Low oxygen and breathing difficulties can force your child to push their head backward while raising their nose to the sky (especially when lying on your back). Your child could also lean forward in a sitting position, and the child will automatically utilize these positions to increase breathing.
RDS Diagnosis
The diagnosis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome is unclear, and timely diagnosis and neonatal distress treatment are required. An assessment of the entire prenatal and birth background to identify risks, signs, and symptoms in the clinical manifestation, and radiographic signs and signs of hypoxemia on blood gas tests of the blood gas.
The clinical manifestation is non-specific respiratory symptoms such as nasal flaring, tachypnea retractions, grunting, and cyanosis. It is accompanied by a decrease in airflow during auscultation.
Chest Radiography is a pathological sign of RDS including homogeneous lung disease with diffuse atelectasis. Blood gas tests can show the signs of an increase in metabolic and respiratory acidosis, including the presence of lactic acidemia in infants suffering from an increase in RDS.
An echocardiogram could reveal the presence of an arteriosus with a patent ductus, which may affect the clinical process of RDS.
Treatments for NRDS?
If an infant has been born suffering from RDS and the signs are immediately apparent, the infant is typically transferred to an intensive care unit (ICU).
- Replacement therapy with surfactants
- A ventilator or a nasal constant positive airway pressure (NCPAP) machine
- Oxygen therapy
Surfactant replacement therapy provides infants with the surfactant they are lacking. The therapy is delivered via the breathing tube, ensuring that the treatment is delivered into the lung.
Following the surfactant administration, the doctor at Top Hospitals In Coimbatore will attach the baby to the ventilator. This is a way to provide extra support for breathing. They may need to repeat this procedure many times, based on how severe their illness is.
The infant could also be given a ventilator treatment to assist with breathing. A ventilator is a device that inserts an air tube through the windpipe, and the ventilator is then able to breathe for the baby.
A more accessible and less intrusive breathing support alternative is a nasal continuous positive pressure (NCPAP) machine. It delivers oxygen to the nostrils using the use of a small mask.
Oxygen therapy supplies oxygen to the organs of the infant through the lung. If oxygen levels aren’t adequate organs, they don’t function as they should. A CPAP or ventilator can provide oxygen. In the mildest cases, oxygen can be administered without using a ventilator or via a nasal CPAP machine.
Living with RDS
Once your baby is out of the hospital, it may require additional medical attention. It is essential to adhere to your child’s treatment plan and receive regular medical attention. It is also essential to maintain your mental health while caring for your child at home.
