Objective:

To determine whether endotracheal aspiration of non-vigorous newborns dyed with meconium reduces the risk of meconium aspiration syndrome through a systematic review.

Material and methods:

for the selection of controlled clinical trials (RCTs), the following databases were searched: Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase and metasearch engines such as Epistemonikos and Trip Database,

Results:

Only two RCTs were identified. The group of non-vigorous newborns who did not receive endotracheal aspiration had a lower incidence of meconium aspiration syndrome; however, the difference was not significant (RR 0.76, CI95% 0.54 - 1.06).

Conclusions:

The evidence on the efficacy of endotracheal non-aspiration in non-vigorous newborns to prevent the development of meconium aspiration syndrome is insufficient, so more studies are needed to determine its usefulness.