Abstract Quantitative descriptive research, whose objective was to define the profile of use of exogenous surfactant at neonatal units of the Secretaria Municipal de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro. The sample consisted of 444 documented sheets of exogenous surfactant, filled in from January 2005 to March 2006. The variables were analyzed: newborn weight; Apgar; number of doses; diagnoses, and maternal use of corticosteroids. It was used the software EPI-INFO 6.04 for processing the data. The average newborn weight was 1.210g. […]