Recorded Continuous Oximetry Improves Postdischarge Management of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Abstract

* Abbreviations: BPD — : bronchopulmonary dysplasia RHO — : recorded home oximetry Bringing a healthy newborn home for the first time can be overwhelming. Bringing a medically fragile, technology-dependent preterm infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) home can be life altering. Peri-discharge communication between multiple inpatient and outpatient providers is often fragmented, leaving families vulnerable and stressed.1,2 The equipment commonly used for home monitoring of infants on supplemental oxygen does not communicate with the providers responsible for decisions about titration of the support after discharge. Parents are therefore expected to intermittently report (by recall or by manual diary) the infant’s respiratory status and oxygen saturation trends to the clinicians. Clinicians must make decisions on the basis of the parental history and brief direct observations. Novel approaches to providing high-quality data to the clinicians responsible for postdischarge management of technology-dependent infants with BPD are urgently needed. The recorded home oximetry (RHO) trial reported by Rhein et al3 in this month’s issue of Pediatrics is the first rigorous study to record pulse oximetry in the home environment and use these data to guide the care of preterm infants on supplemental oxygen … Address correspondence to Sara B. DeMauro, MD, MSCE, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Robert’s Center for Pediatric Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19146. E-mail: demauro{at}email.chop.edu