Impact of inhaled nitric oxide stewardship programme in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Aim: Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is the most common, although expensive, therapy for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn and hypoxaemic respiratory failure. With significant variation in iNO delivery practices amongst clinicians, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a stewardship programme in increasing clinician compliance with revised, standardised protocols and to measure the impact of compliance on iNO therapy use.

Methods: Initiation and weaning protocols for iNO were introduced to the neonatal intensive care unit at The Centenary Hospital on 01 March 2016.