Viagra in the NICU

Specialties NICU

Published

I recently heard a blurb on the news about the use of Viagra in the NICU for treatment of PPHN. I was leaving for work at the time and only caught the tail end, but my curiosity is peaked. Have any of you heard anything about this? Are any of these tests going on in your units? I'm really curious as to how it's working.

I am a nurse at Royal Darwin Hospital and we often use Viagra for neonates with PPHN and it seems to work well.

Especially on those receiving Nitric Oxide as well.

My mom has been a NICU nurse since not long after I was out of diapers (now a NNP), currently works at a level 4 (or 3 - forget which level her state goes to - only NICU in the state with ECMO, anyways) and she says they are giving neonates with pphn (mostly from meconium aspiration in already underdeveloped little lungs) sildenafil and NO before they put them on ECMO.

She also says that they use Viagra to pop the diaper off a little boy baby if you're having trouble changing a kid, but that's just explains where I get my goobery sense of humor.

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