Achieving oxygen saturation targets in preterm infants at birth: does using an SpO₂ target range help?

Neonatal resuscitation guidelines vary in their recommendations for oxygen saturation (SpO₂) targets – some use a single SpO₂ target, others use a target range. We conducted a prospective observational study collecting SpO₂ data on preterm infants born at <34 weeks’ gestation. The objective of our study was to determine if using a range, rather than a single SpO₂ target, would be more achievable during preterm infant resuscitation

Prakash Kannan Loganathan^1,2,3
Consultant Neonatologist
pkannanloganathan@nhs.net

Amelia Bearn¹
Paediatric Trainee

Vrinda Nair ^1,2
Consultant Neonatologist

Difu Shi^3,4
Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Science and Computational Cosmology

Carlton Baugh^3,4
Professor in Data Science and Computational Cosmology

¹Neonatal Unit, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough
²Clinical Academic office, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University
³Department of Physics, University of Durham
⁴Institute for Computational Cosmology, University of Durham

Loganathan PK., Bearn A., Nair V., Shi D., Baugh C. Achieving oxygen saturation targets in preterm infants at birth: does using an SpO₂ target range help? Infant 2023; 19(6): 227-30.

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Keywords

oxygen saturation; preterm infant; resuscitation; pulse oximetry

Key points

We collected SpO₂ and heart rate data for the first 10 minutes of life in 50 preterm infants.
Irrespective of using an SpO₂ target range or a single SpO₂ target, only a proportion of preterm infants achieve target SpO₂ during the first 10 minutes of life.

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Achieving oxygen saturation targets in preterm infants at birth: does using an SpO2 target range help?

Achieving oxygen saturation targets in preterm infants at birth: does using an SpO₂ target range help?