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Prophylactic DR-CPAP on Late Preterm Infants Born by C-section: an RCT

Prophylactic Delivery Room Continuous Positive Airway Pressure to Optimize Outcomes in Spontaneously Breathing Late Preterm Neonates Born by Cesarean Section: A Pilot Clinical Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05204719
Acronym
PLANT
Enrollment
120
Registered
2022-01-24
Start date
2023-08-04
Completion date
2026-04-14
Last updated
2026-06-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Premature Birth

Keywords

Neonatal Resuscitation, Clinical Trial, Late Preterm Infants, Lung Aeration, Respiratory Transition

Brief summary

A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial to Evaluate the Impact of Early Prophylactic Continuous Positive Airway Pressure with or without Supplemental Oxygen in Spontaneously Breathing Late Preterm Newborn Infants Born by Cesarean Delivery, Compared to No Early Prophylactic Continuous Positive Airway Pressure with or without Supplemental Oxygen, on the Need for Further Respiratory Support Leading to NICU Admissions.

Detailed description

A prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial of prophylactic delivery room continuous positive airway pressure (DR-CPAP) versus no prophylactic DR-CPAP will be conducted. Neonates with an obstetrically determined gestational age (GA) from 34 0/7 to 36 6/7 weeks born by Cesarean section (C-section) will be included. Patients to be screened will be identified from the electronic medical record by study personnel or by phone call from admitting physicians or obstetrics (OB) staff. In addition, a research nurse will screen and identify eligible women who are admitted to the OB service daily including labor and delivery or antepartum unit. Eligible women will be approached by a trained research nurse about voluntary participation. If the patient is eligible the study will be introduced by research nurses independent of the treating or admitting physicians, and they will be provided with an informed consent form. Interested participants will be consented either on the antepartum unit or the labor and delivery unit prior to C-section. A total of 120 neonates will be enrolled in the trial, 60 in each group. Since mothers will be randomized to their respective groups immediately prior to C-section, twins will be allocated to the same treatment. The study will include neonates of both sexes and from all racial and ethnic groups. After obtaining the informed consent the research personnel will complete the eligibility electronic form including the information needed for the stratification (in the central web based system, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) housed in a secure server. The central REDCap system will provide the group allocation. The neonatal resuscitation team will ensure the required facemask or nasal prongs and the T piece resuscitator are available before delivery. Once the baby is born, the cord will be clamped following local practice and its time will be recorded. Then the initial steps following neonatal resuscitation guidelines will be performed (warming, drying, stimulating, positioning and suctioning if needed). An immediate evaluation of the respiratory status will be performed. If the infant is spontaneously breathing and allocated to the intervention group, they will receive 20 min of 5 to 6 cm water of continuous airway pressure using either a face mask or the appropriate size of nasal prong. Alternatively, spontaneously breathing infants assigned to control group will receive the standard of care with no prophylactic DR-CPAP. In both groups, CPAP can be used to help babies with persistent labored breathing or cyanosis after the initial steps as per the participating institutional neonatal resuscitation protocol. At any time, if the patient does not present spontaneous breathing, an escalation on the resuscitation measures will be performed and the study intervention will be terminated. A disposable pulse oximeter sensor of the appropriate size will be applied to the right wrist or hand as soon as possible. Supplemental oxygen will be provided to achieve the target oxygen saturation following neonatal resuscitation guidelines. Following delivery room management, all care decisions, including NICU admission, will be at discretion of the clinical team. Participant data will be collected from the electronic medical record and/or from the monitoring equipment used during resuscitation (e.g., body temperature monitor, CPAP settings, and oxygen saturation, etc.). Patient characteristics, delivery room variables, and neonatal outcomes will be recorded in a secure password protected REDCap database.

Interventions

PROCEDUREProphylactic Delivery Room Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

Prophylactic Delivery Room Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (DR-CPAP) of 5-6 cm H20 will be provided for 20 minutes through the face mask or the appropriate size of nasal prong after the initial steps as per the participating institution's neonatal resuscitation protocol.

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma
Lead SponsorOTHER
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
CollaboratorOTHER
Columbia University
CollaboratorOTHER
St. Louis University
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Alberta
CollaboratorOTHER
Indiana University
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Years to 5 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Inborn newborns delivered by Cesarean section, gestational age between 34 weeks and \< 37 weeks.

Exclusion criteria

* Major congenital anomalies including pulmonary hypoplasia and lethal life-limiting conditions.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Effectivenessup to 30 days or hospital dischargeDuration of respiratory support including supplemental oxygen
Adverse outcomesfirst 24 hours after birthProportion of air leaks and any other safety related adverse outcomes

Countries

Canada, Chile, United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORBirju A Shah, MD

Univeristy of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 18, 2026