Health & Baby

Treatment for chronic lung disease depends on how severe the condition is. Treatment usually includes oxygen therapy and sometimes using a ventilator, as well as medicines and nutritional therapy. Treatment does not cure chronic lung disease. But it helps a newborn breathe more easily while the lungs mature and heal on their own. Babies who are born with this condition may need some form of treatment throughout their lives.

Most newborns who have chronic lung disease recover from it. But the symptoms may last a long time and may require treatment into early childhood. Occasional setbacks from difficulty breathing are common.

Basic treatment includes one or more of the following:

• Oxygen, which can be inhaled directly into the lungs. Your baby may also need a ventilator, which forces air into the lungs. In some cases, babies can use a ventilator at home, but not always. Treatment to help your baby breathe reduces the stress on his or her body while the lungs mature and heal on their own.
• Medicine. Your baby may be given diuretics, bronchodilators, or corticosteroids. Medicine to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections may also be given.
• Nutritional therapy. If your baby is not able to eat from a bottle or at the breast, a nasogastric tube will be inserted into his or her stomach through the nose. Your baby's doctor will give total parenteral nutrition (TPN) if your baby cannot be tube-fed. Babies with chronic lung disease need to eat more calories than healthy babies, because their bodies use more energy than normal to breathe and to fight infection. Vitamin supplements and electrolytes are often also given.

Your baby will be treated by medical specialists such as a neonatologist or a pulmonologist. Your newborn may need to spend time in the hospital, from several weeks to several months. During this time, visit your baby often and ask to be involved in his or her care.

Initial and long-term treatment of chronic lung disease varies greatly, depending on:

• How severely the baby's lungs are damaged.
• How difficult it is for the baby to breathe.
• What triggered the development of chronic lung disease.
• How early (prematurely) the baby was born.

Initial treatment

If your newborn has mild to moderate chronic lung disease and can breathe without the use of a ventilator, he or she will be given additional oxygen (which is inhaled, not forced, into the lungs). Oxygen therapy helps your baby:

• Breathe more easily.
• Get oxygen to body cells.
• Grow and develop normally.

Your baby may need continued oxygen therapy for the first few months after birth. Inhaled oxygen may be administered by:

• Nasal cannula. This flexible plastic tube is placed in the nostrils and is connected to an oxygen source.
• Oxygen hood. This is a rigid, clear plastic device that fits over your baby's head and is connected to an oxygen source.
• Endotracheal tube. This is a soft rubber or plastic tube that is inserted through the nose or mouth into the windpipe (trachea). Babies who must use a ventilator for more than a few weeks sometimes need a tracheotomy. A tracheotomy reduces problems that may be caused by long-term use of an endotracheal tube, such as discomfort and damage to the trachea and vocal cords.