Abstract

Study Design: Experimental
Purpose: History have shown that liberal oxygen(O2) administration is associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) whereas restrictive use results in increased mortality and neurodisability. So we tried to develop some strategies to maintain optimal O2 saturation in premature infants.
Method: For each infant requiring O2 we monitored the SpO2 trend. Alarms on the monitor was set so that they sound if the SpO2 levels are too high (95% or above) or too low (88% or less).We implemented a SpO2 targeting protocol and developed an algorithm for titrating fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2).
Result: We observed that nurses aggressively increased SPO2 in response to hypoxic episodes, which sometimes resulted in rebound hyperoxia. Repeated episodes of alternating of hypoxia or hyperoxia can cause significant alterations in vascular tone in immature infants.
Conclusion: Severe ROP can be prevented by implementing simple improvements in caregiving procedures.

Full Text