The Food and Drug Administration has issued an Early Alert on breathing hoses used to move air into the lungs of infants weighing up to 22 pounds, after the manufacturer reported cases in which the hoses cracked before use.
The device is the Draeger VentStar Resus Neo, a disposable circuit that carries breathing gas from a source to a small patient. If a cracked hose is used, the agency says, the hose may fall off or leak, restricting ventilation or delaying therapy. The consequences it names are the ones that make neonatal care different from almost any other setting: falling oxygen levels, hypoxia, and death.
