Experience in the management of eighty-two newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia treated with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and delayed surgery without the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

The aim of this study is to analyze neonatal outcome of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia and to identify prenatal and postnatal prognosis-related factors. A retrospective single institution series from January 2000 to November 2005 of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia neonates was reviewed. Respiratory-care strategy was early high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, nitric oxide in pulmonary hypertension, and delayed surgery after respiratory and hemodynamic stabilization. Survival rate at 1 month was 65.9%. None of the prenatal factors were predictive of neonatal outcome, except an intra-abdominal stomach in left diaphragmatic hernia. Preoperative pulmonary hypertension was more severe in the nonsurvivor group and was predictive of length of ventilation in the survivors. During the first 48 hours of life, the best oxygenation index above 13 and the best PaCO2 above 45 were predictive of poor outcome. When treating isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia with early high-frequency ventilation and delayed surgery but excluding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, survival rates compare favorably with other reported series, and the respiratory morbidity is low.