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Transcutaneous blood gas monitoring during neonatal intensive care
Author(s) -
Sandberg Kenneth L,
Brynjarsson Hrolfur,
Hjalmarson Ola
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02164.x
Subject(s) - medicine , neonatal intensive care unit , birth weight , arterial blood , mean difference , low birth weight , significant difference , body weight , intensive care , limits of agreement , anesthesia , pediatrics , pregnancy , nuclear medicine , intensive care medicine , confidence interval , genetics , biology
Aim: To evaluate the accuracy in transcutaneous (Tc) blood gas monitoring in newborn infants, including extremely low birth weight infants, during neonatal intensive care. Methods: Tc PO 2 /PCO 2 was monitored in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during stable infant conditions. In comparison, simultaneous arterial PO 2 and PCO 2 was measured. Sixty measurements were taken in 46 infants with median (range) birth weight of 0.93 (0.53–4.7) kg and at median (range) age of 8.5 (1–44) days. Comparison of measurements was performed using Bland–Altman plots, and the mean (95% CI) of the difference was calculated. Comparison was also performed in relation to body weight, postnatal age and oxygen requirement. Results: The mean (95% CI) difference in PO 2 (TcPO 2 –aPO 2 ) was 0.3 (−0.2–0.9) kPa, and the corresponding difference in PCO 2 (TcPCO 2 –aPCO 2 ) was 0.4 (0.03–0.8, p < 0.05) kPa. Some differences were related to body weight, age and oxygen requirement, but these differences were small. Conclusion: There was good agreement between TcPO 2 /TcPCO 2 and corresponding arterial measurements. The mean difference between the methods was small and clinically acceptable in a current NICU. Tc blood gas monitoring could be recommended as a valuable complement for blood gas monitoring also in extremely low birth weight infants.