Survanta Special Precautions

SURVANTA is intended for intratracheal use only.
SURVANTA can rapidly affect oxygenation and lung compliance. Therefore, its use should be restricted to a highly supervised clinical setting with immediate availability of clinicians experienced with intubation, ventilator management and general care of premature infants. Infants receiving SURVANTA should be frequently monitored with arterial or transcutaneous measurement of systemic oxygen and carbon dioxide.
During the dosing procedure, transient episodes of bradycardia and decreased oxygen saturation have been reported. If these occur, stop the dosing procedure and initiate appropriate measures to alleviate the condition. After stabilization, resume the dosing procedure.
General: Rales and moist breath sounds can occur transiently after administration. Endotracheal suctioning or other remedial action is not necessary unless clear-cut signs of airway obstruction are present.
Increased probability of post-treatment nosocomial sepsis in SURVANTA-treated infants was observed in the controlled clinical trials (see Table 3 under Adverse Reactions). The increased risk for sepsis among SURVANTA-treated infants was not associated with increased mortality among these infants. The causative organisms were similar in treated and control infants. There was no significant difference between groups in the rate of post-treatment infections other than sepsis.
Use of SURVANTA in infants less than 600 g birth weight or greater than 1750 g birth weights has not been evaluated in controlled trials. There is no controlled experience with the use of SURVANTA in conjunction with experimental therapies for RDS (e.g. high-frequency ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).
No information is available on the effects of doses other than 100 mg phospholipids/kg, more than four doses, dosing more frequently than every six hours, or administration after 48 hours of age.