Introduction
High-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) is a lung-sparing strategy that is frequently applied as a rescue therapy in neonates when conventional mechanical ventilation methods fail, and its use in neonatal units has increased over the past years. It prevents the traumatic ’inflation-deflation’ cycle generated by conventional ventilation by maintaining a low tidal volume and constant mean airway pressure [1]. Although it works by reducing excessive tension in the alveoli with very small tidal volumes, providing optimal lung volume is important for effective HFOV[2]. The inability to reliably measure changes in lung volume at the point of care is one of the most significant barriers to optimize lung volume during HFOV in newborns[3]. Although numerous approaches for determining appropriate lung capacity in HFOV have been tried, they have not yet been widely used due to practical constraints[4-7]. Although the simpler method of CXR has limitations, lung expansion can be measured to a certain extent.
The purpose of this study was to compare the results of POCUS with CXR to limit radiation exposure while being fast and more practical in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).