Limitations of the Study:
Our study has some limitations. First of all, it is a retrospective
study. However, in some instances, when clinical trials are not
possible, retrospective studies are available to compare different
treatments, define prognostic factors, helpful to assess the feasibility
of prospective studies and to help in their design. Secondly, as only
two sizes of flexible bronchoscopes (with outer diameters 3.8 and 4.8
mm) were available in our centre, we could not evaluate young infants
and newborns with bronchoscopic examination and that may affect the
results hence incidence of malacia. Thirdly, after starting a treatment
type the patients were evaluated only with clinical improvement to
figure out the effect of the treatment modality and to decide to
terminate it. However, determining the effect of the treatment with
bronchoscopic evaluation might be more valuable and objective.