Bilevel positive airway pressure for neonates - a short report.

Invasive mechanical ventilation in the neonatal setting can be life-saving, but may lead to chronic respiratory morbidity. As a consequence, there has been a focus on using non-invasive ventilation techniques (NIV). One NIV mode is bilevel continuous positive airway pressure (BiPAP), during which two alternating levels of pressure are delivered: a lower/baseline pressure (usually 4-6 cm H2 O) and an upper pressure (usually 3-5 cm H2 O above the lower continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) level) which is delivered at a set rate with a specified inspiratory time (usually 0.5-1 seconds) (1).