Outcomes  
The primary outcomes were: 1) Requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) within the first 7 days of randomisation; 2) treatment failure, defined as requirement of an additional form of respiratory support for various reasons such as respiratory acidosis, hypoxemia or severe apnea within the first 7 days of randomisation. The secondary outcomes included incidence of mortality (neonatal and before discharge), incidence of Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) defined as oxygen requirement at 36 weeks of post menstrual age, incidence of mortality or BPD, incidence of air leak, incidence of severe IVH defined as Grade > 213, incidence of NEC stage >/= 214, incidence of PDA requiring medical therapy or surgical intervention, incidence of severe ROP defined as those requiring laser therapy and or intra-vitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and / or stage >/= 3 as per ICROP15 and incidence of nasal injury.