Abstract

FISTOLERA, Silvia  and  RODRIGUEZ, Susana. Administración y monitorización de oxígeno en recién nacidos con riesgo de retinopatía. Arch. argent. pediatr. [online]. 2005, vol.103, n.6, pp.503-513. ISSN 0325-0075.

Introduction. To prevent retinopathy of prematurity we need to know oxygen management policy in neonatal units. Objective. 1) To describe the strategies of oxygen administration and monitoring. 2) To assess care difficulties in newborns at risk for retinopathy. Population, material and methods. 25 public neonatal units. Descriptive study; we assessed the characteristics of the neonatal units, human and technological resources, retinopathy screening, weight, age and diagnosis of patients under oxygen therapy, actual reading of oxygen saturation and alarm settings. Results. 25 neonatal units were visited. None had the recommended number of nurses, 64% (16/25) of them showed a deficit ≥ 50%. Retinopathy screening was deficient in 8/25 units (32%). Only 2/25 had pulse oximetry in the delivery room and during transport. The number of monitoring devices was variable and inadequate (27% in reparation); 216 intensive care units had 171 oxygen saturation monitors, therefore, many patients shared the monitor. We evaluated 84 newborns at risk of retinopathy under oxygen treatment; 61 had an oxygen saturation monitor, 62% with inadequate oxygenation readings. The lower limit alarm was correct in 56%, and the higher limit alarm was correct in only 17% of the patients. Most of the units used the high limit alarm inadequately (74%). Conclusion. The oxygen administration and monitoring in patients at risk for retinopathy is deficient. We found several difficulties, which included deficits in human and technological resources, structural problems and lack of adequate strategies of care with the available equipment.

Keywords : Retinopathy of prematurity; Oxygen delivery; Pulse oximetry.

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