Surfactant therapy in acute respiratory distress syndrome due to hydrocarbon aspiration.

Hydrocarbon aspiration causes acute lung injury, which may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Surfactant has been shown to be beneficial in experimentally-induced hydrocarbon-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, there has not been a clinical study evaluating the effect of surfactant application on hydrocarbon aspiration in humans. We report a 17-month-old boy with acute respiratory distress syndrome due to hydrocarbon aspiration and was successfully treated with surfactant application.