Changes in lung volume and work of breathing: A comparison of two variable-flow nasal continuous positive airway pressure devices in very low birth weight infants

Variable flow nasal continuous positive airway pressure (VF‐NCPAP) recruits lung volume more effectively and reduces work of breathing (WOB) compared to constant‐flow NCPAP (CF‐NCPAP) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Because different VF‐NCPAP devices have somewhat different flow patterns, whether different VF‐NCPAP devices function similarly is unknown. We compared two VF‐NCPAP devices: the Infant Flow™ (EME, Ltd.) and the Arabella® (Hamilton Medical) to assess whether lung volume recruitment and WOB were similar in VLBW infants requiring NCPAP. Eighteen infants