Ventilation practices in the neonatal intensive care units in Saudi Arabia, survey of the utilization of volume-targeted ventilation among practicing neonatologists.

Objective: To assess the current practice in using volume-targeted ventilation among neonatologists working at the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: The questionnaire was provided electronically to 153 practicing Neonatologists working in 39 NICUs. The survey's results were received and statistically analyzed.

Results: One hundred nineteen (119) responses were received with, a 78% response rate. Volume Targeted Ventilation (VTV) was used routinely by 67.2%, whereas 21.8% still use only pressure control (PC)/pressure limited (PL) mode. During the acute phase of ventilation support, Assist Control was the most popular synchronized mode, whereas Synchronized Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation (SIMV) with pressure support (PS) or PSV were the two most common modes during the weaning phase, 31.8%, and 31% respectively. The majority of the neonatologists used a tidal volume of 4 ml/kg as the lowest and 6 ml/kg as the highest. The major reasons for not implementing VTV were the limited availability of ventilator devices that have an option of VTV, followed by lack of experience.

Conclusion: VTV is the predominant ventilation practice approach among neonatologists working in the KSA. Limited availability and lack of experience in using are the main challenges. Efforts to equip NICUs with the most advanced ventilation technology, enhance practitioners' experience and sufficient training in its use are warranted.