Posted on 07/09/2024 9:55:58 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Giving very premature babies high concentrations of oxygen soon after birth may reduce the risk of death by 50% compared to lower levels of oxygen, says new research.
The study examined clinical trial data and outcomes of over one thousand premature babies who were given different oxygen concentrations. This included low concentrations of oxygen (~30%), intermediate (~50-65%) and high (~90%).
The study found for babies born prematurely, at less than 32 weeks (less than three-quarters of the way through a full pregnancy), starting resuscitation with high concentrations of oxygen (90% or greater) could increase chances of survival compared to low levels (21 to 30%).
The researchers believe higher initial levels of oxygen may jump-start independent breathing.
The researchers emphasize that additional large studies will be important to confirm this finding, and that even when starting with high oxygen, it must be adjusted to lower levels quickly to avoid hyperoxia (oxygen poisoning).
How the oxygen is delivered during the first 10 minutes of the infant's life is critical.
This study also demonstrates that there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach, and babies born prematurely may have different needs than babies born at term.
Historically, oxygen with a 100% concentration was used to resuscitate all newborn infants. But due to studies that found high concentrations of oxygen over time can lead to hyperoxia and subsequent organ damage, in 2010 it prompted changes in international treatment recommendations for the use of blended oxygen (starting with low oxygen) for preterm infants.
However, researchers say the change was mainly based on evidence for full-term infants, who have fully developed lungs and who are often not as sick as premature infants.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
This is not currently done, it appears, but once was.
Oxygen levels that are too high can cause blindness in preemies.
The famous singer, Stevie Wonder, was blinded by too much oxygen as a premie. The risk of blindness is probably why the practice of giving high doses of oxygen to premies was discontinued.
The high oxygen didn’t help every premie. My own brother died despite a high oxygen environment. I never got to meet him.
When I was in training, it was 100%
Oxygen levels that are too high can cause blindness in preemies.
Also, it is not certain that it is the high oxygen in itself that causes the malformation of the blood vessels in the eye. It may actually be caused by a too sudden reduction of the oxygen partial pressure when the premature infant is removed from the oxygen enriched environment.
See this paper:
Retinopathy Of The Newborn Is Due To Hypoxia Not Oxygen Toxicity
Thanks! Wow, that’s what a published paper is supposed to look like. Very compelling observation, hypothesis, test, results.
Thank you again!
Glad you liked it. I also find it very compelling. If the thesis of this paper had been generally accepted it is possible we would have a much lower incidence of cerebral palsy. However, I think, slowly, slowly, the medical community is coming around.
Ignaz Semmelweis started telling doctors to wash their hands in 1850. They hounded him into an insane asylum, where he died.
The 1980s represented a landmark in the evolution of concepts of hand hygiene in health care. The first national hand hygiene guidelines were published in the 1980s
Call it 130 years from discovery to formal guidelines.
How long will this take for this to become formally recognized?
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