Abstract
Continuous monitoring of oxygenation in sick newborns is essential. However, transcutaneous PO2 (tcPO2) measurements have limitations. The extremely immature infant cannot tolerate a heated electrode. Older infants, and infants with BPD have large and unpredictable skin-arterial gradients. We report pulse oximetry as a technique for continuous, non-invasive measurement of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2). We studied 20 infants, gestational ages 28–40 weeks, ages 1–49 days. Fetal hemoglobin (Hb) determinations were made on all infants and ranged from 5–100%. SaO2 readings from the Nellcor Pulse Oximeter were compared to the SaO2 measured with an IL282 CO-Oximeter on simultaneously obtained arterial blood samples. The method of Cornellisen (Clin. Chem., 1983) was used to correct for the fictitiously elevated carboxyhemoglobin levels caused by the presence of fetal Hb. The figure shows the close correlation for the 121 samples (Y=24.45+0.72X, r=.89.). The correlation was equally good for the 3 infants greater than 1 month of age with BPD. We conclude that the pulse oximeter provides an accurate, non-invasive alternative to tcPO2 monitoring, and overcomes some of the limitations previously encountered.
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