Abstract
Umbilical cord arterial and venous blood gas analysis is a commonly performed procedure in human neonatal medicine to help ascertain a newborn infant's oxygenation and acid-base status before birth. Defined protocols for performing the procedure have been described in the medical literature. The aim of this report was to describe in detail the procedure for collecting paired blood samples from the umbilical artery and vein in newborn foals so that stall-side blood gas analysis could be carried out. Thirty-five Thoroughbred foals >320 days' gestation from mares at one stud farm were sampled. Paired umbilical arterial and venous whole-blood samples were obtained in n = 30 foals, umbilical artery samples alone obtained in n = 3, and umbilical vein samples alone obtained in n = 2 foals. There were no adverse events or clinical outcomes associated with the sampling protocol described. The authors found that umbilical cord blood collection for blood gas analysis was a practical clinical technique that potentially could be used as a stall-side method for assessing the in utero oxygenation and acid-base status of newborn foals.
Highlights
The combination of Apgar scoring [1,2] and umbilical cord blood gas analysis is routinely used by human neonatologists to assess the likelihood that a hypoxic event effecting the human infant occurred in utero, either acutely during parturition or more chronically during the pregnancy [3,4,5]
Similar to the hypoxic syndromes seen in human neonates, perinatal asphyxia syndrome (PAS) in neonatal foals is likely caused by hypoxicischaemic damage that occurred during pregnancy or parturition [12,13]
Paired umbilical arterial and venous whole-blood samples were obtained in n=30 foals, umbilical artery samples alone obtained in n=3 foals and umbilical vein samples alone obtained in n=2 foals
Summary
The combination of Apgar scoring [1,2] and umbilical cord blood gas analysis is routinely used by human neonatologists to assess the likelihood that a hypoxic event effecting the human infant occurred in utero, either acutely during parturition or more chronically during the pregnancy [3,4,5]. Umbilical cord blood gas analysis is thought to be a useful diagnostic technique, as it provides the most accurate insight into the neonate’s acid-base status prior to birth [5]. These assessments help identify at-risk babies without delay, allowing for early medical intervention [6,7,8]. Similar to the hypoxic syndromes seen in human neonates, perinatal asphyxia syndrome (PAS) in neonatal foals is likely caused by hypoxicischaemic damage that occurred during pregnancy or parturition [12,13].
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