Wang 2008
Wang 2008
Wang 2008
aDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of California, San Diego, California; bSanta Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, California
The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Current guidelines for initial FIO2 during resuscitation of very preterm infants include the The current study is, to our knowledge, the first prospective, randomized comparison of
full range of available FIO2 values, whereas the best available evidence indicates a po- the use of room air versus oxygen for the initial resuscitation of very preterm infants and
tential advantage to the use of room air. raises concerns regarding the safety of room air for this population.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE. In this study of preterm neonates of ⬍32 weeks, we prospectively compared
the use of room air versus 100% oxygen as the initial resuscitation gas.
www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/
METHODS. A 2-center, prospective, randomized, controlled trial of neonates with peds.2007-1460
gestational ages of 23 to 32 weeks who required resuscitation was performed. The doi:10.1542/peds.2007-1460
oxygen group was initially resuscitated with 100% oxygen, with decreases in the This trial has been registered at
fraction of inspired oxygen after 5 minutes of life if pulse oxygen saturation was www.clinicaltrials.gov (identifier
⬎95%. The room air group was initially resuscitated with 21% oxygen, which NCT00369720).
was increased to 100% oxygen if compressions were performed or if the heart Key Words
rate was ⬍100 beats per minute at 2 minutes of life. Oxygen was increased in oxygen, pulse oximeter, resuscitation,
room air, very low birth weight
25% increments if pulse oxygen saturation was ⬍70% at 3 minutes of life or
Abbreviations
⬍80% at 5 minutes of life. SpO2—pulse oxygen saturation
NRP—Neonatal Resuscitation Program
RESULTS. Twenty-three infants in the oxygen group (mean gestational age: 27.6 weeks; PPV—positive pressure ventilation
range: 24 –31 weeks; mean birth weight: 1013 g; range: 495–2309 g) and 18 in the FIO2—fraction of inspired oxygen
room air group (mean gestational age: 28 weeks; range: 25–31 weeks; mean birth UCSD—University of California, San Diego
weight: 1091 g; range: 555–1840 g) were evaluated. Every resuscitated patient in the Accepted for publication Sep 25, 2007
room air group met rescue criteria and received an increase in the fraction of inspired Address correspondence to Neil Finer, MD,
402 Dickinson St, MPF Building, Suite 1-140,
oxygen by 3 minutes of life, 6 patients directly to 100% and 12 with incremental San Diego, CA 92103-8774. E-mail: nfiner@
increases. Pulse oxygen saturation was significantly lower in the room air group from ucsd.edu
2 to 10 minutes (pulse oxygen saturation at 3 minutes: 55% in the room air group PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005;
vs 87% in the oxygen group). Heart rates did not differ between groups in the first Online, 1098-4275). Copyright © 2008 by the
American Academy of Pediatrics
10 minutes of life, and there were no differences in secondary outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS. Resuscitation with room air failed to achieve our target oxygen saturation by 3 minutes of life, and we
recommend that it not be used for preterm neonates. Pediatrics 2008;121:1083–1089
R OOM AIR RESUSCITATION has been used successfully for asphyxiated term neonates. Multiple trials showed room
air to be at least as effective as 100% oxygen for resuscitation in this population.1–6 Meta-analyses of the major
randomized, controlled trials completed to date showed improved survival rates for term infants resuscitated with
room air, compared with 100% oxygen. Subgroup analysis showed a larger survival benefit for infants born at ⬍37
weeks of gestation.7–9 Despite this information suggesting that room air might be beneficial for resuscitating preterm
infants, there has never been a trial specifically evaluating the use of room air versus higher oxygen concentrations
during newborn resuscitation in this group of infants.
The World Health Organization has stated that supplemental oxygen is not necessary as the initial resuscitating
gas.10,11 The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation systematically reviewed the available evidence for the
use of oxygen during newborn resuscitation and concluded that insufficient evidence existed to specify the
concentration of oxygen that should be used at the onset of resuscitation.12 The Neonatal Resuscitation Program
(NRP) published the most recent revision of its textbook in 2006, which continues to recommend using 100%
oxygen as the initial ventilating gas for term infants.13 In addressing the care of preterm infants, this edition of the
NRP textbook does not recommend a specific initial concentration of oxygen but does recommend monitoring pulse
oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels with pulse oximetry in the delivery room.
The potential for toxicity resulting from hyperoxia in preterm neonates has long been hypothesized. There is now
an emerging body of information suggesting that many of the morbid conditions associated with extreme immaturity
1084 WANG et al
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TABLE 1 Maternal Factors and Baseline Characteristics
Room Air 100% Oxygen
(n ⫽ 18) (n ⫽ 23)
Gestation, mean ⫾ SD, wk 28.1 ⫾ 2.23 27.6 ⫾ 2.1
Birth weight, mean ⫾ SD, g 1066 ⫾ 368 1013 ⫾ 444
Female, n (%) 11 (61) 14 (61)
Prenatal steroid therapy, n (%) 11 (62) 17 (74)
IUGR, n (%) 3 (17) 8 (35)
Maternal age, mean ⫾ SD, y 28 ⫾ 8.5 28 ⫾ 6.5
PPROM, n (%) 5 (28) 10 (43)
Cesarean section, n (%) 9 (50) 16 (70)
Maternal chorioamnionitis, n (%) 3 (17) 8 (35)
Singleton, n (%) 16 (89) 16 (69)
PIH, n (%) 6 (33) 5 (21)
IUGR indicates intrauterine growth retardation; PPROM, preterm prolonged rupture of mem-
branes; PIH, pregnancy-induced hypertension.
FIGURE 1
Protocol for room air resuscitation. HR indicates heart rate; values are in beats per minute.
first dose of prenatal steroid treatment. The two patients
who were randomly assigned (1 to each group) but did
100% oxygen. At 5 minutes of life, oxygen treatment not require any resuscitation, were a 31-week preterm
was weaned if the SpO2 was consistently ⬎95%. In the neonate assigned to the oxygen group and a 29-week
room air group, 21% oxygen was used as the initial preterm infant assigned to the room air group. Neither
resuscitation gas. FIO2 was immediately increased to required continuous positive airway pressure therapy or
100% under the following conditions: need for chest PPV and these patients were not included in the analy-
compressions or medication administration, heart rate of ses.
⬍100 beats per minute at 2 minutes of life, or heart rate
of ⬍60 beats per minute for 30 seconds at any time. FIO2 Resuscitations
was increased in 25% increments if SpO2 was ⬍70% at Every patient in the room air group required an increase
3 minutes of life or ⬍85% at 5 minutes of life. This in FIO2 at or before 3 minutes of life. FIO2 was increased
method is detailed in Fig 1. directly to 100% because of bradycardia by 2 minutes of
The research team reviewed the available video re- age for 6 patients, and FIO2 was increased incrementally
cordings and evaluated adherence to the NRP and study for failure to meet SpO2 criteria at 3 minutes of life for
protocols. With the video recordings linked to the analog the remaining 12 patients. Heart rates of ⬍100 beats per
data on heart rate, SpO2, FIO2, peak inspiratory pressure, minute at 2 minutes of life were seen in 4 patients in the
and positive end expiratory pressure, the exact time at oxygen group. Significant differences were seen in SpO2
which resuscitation events occurred, including any at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 minutes (P ⫽ .01, analysis
changes in FIO2 and administration of positive pressure of variance) (Fig 2). The delivered FIO2 is detailed in Fig
ventilation (PPV), was documented in relation to the 3. Heart rates did not differ between groups in the first
status of the infant at the time.
Descriptive statistics were calculated by using SigmaStat
3.0.1a (Systat, San Jose, CA). Student’s t test was used to
compare normally distributed variables. The Mann-Whit- TABLE 2 Delivery Room Interventions and Early Parameters
ney rank-sum test was used to test significance for non– Room Air 100% Oxygen P
normally distributed variables. One-way, repeated-mea- (n ⫽ 18) (n ⫽ 23)
sures analysis of variance was performed for SpO2 by using Surfactant treatment in DR, n (%) 10 (55) 10 (43) .5
SPSS for Windows 10 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). Intubation in DR, n (%) 10 (55) 10 (43) .5
Chest compressions in DR, n (%) 0 (0) 3 (13) .48
RESULTS Medications in DR, n (%) 0 (0) 1 (4) .8
Apgar score at 1 min, median 5 4 .8
Baseline Characteristics Apgar score at 5 min, median 8 9 .034
Forty-three infants were randomized in this trial be- Apgar score at 10 minutes, mediana 8 7 .43
tween December 2005 and March 2007, two of whom Cord arterial pH, mean ⫾ SD 7.3 ⫾ 0.05 7.27 ⫾ 0.08 .2
did not require resuscitation. Eighteen infants received PPV, n (%) 16 (89) 22 (95) .7
room air and 23 infants received oxygen. A total of 32 CPAP only, n (%) 2 (11) 1 (5) .96
Initial arterial blood gas levels after
patients were enrolled at UCSD and 11 at Santa Clara
resuscitation
Valley Medical Center. Baseline characteristics and ma- pH, mean ⫾ SD 7.26 ⫾ 0.18 7.3 ⫾ 0.09 .44
ternal factors are detailed in Table 1. No differences were PCO2, mean ⫾ SD, mm Hg 54 ⫾ 31 46 ⫾ 7 .9
seen between groups with respect to baseline character- PO2, mean ⫾ SD, mm Hg 59 ⫾ 16 68 ⫾ 28 .4
istics, delivery room interventions (Table 2), or maternal Base deficit, mean ⫾ SD, mol 1.5 ⫾ 5.7 4 ⫾ 3.1 .17
factors. Prenatal steroid administration was defined as DR indicates delivery room; CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure.
delivery of the neonate a minimum of 48 hours after the a Apgar scores at 10 minutes were determined for only 5 patients in each group.
FIGURE 3 FIGURE 5
Mean level of oxygen administered at each minute of life. Bars represent SD. Proportion of patients with SpO2 of ⬎95% at each minute of life.
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TABLE 3 Secondary Outcomes the infants failed to meet the target with room air as the
Room Air 100% Oxygen P resuscitating gas. The actual SpO2 levels that are too high
(n ⫽ 18) (n ⫽ 23) or too low for preterm neonates, and therefore unsafe,
are not known. After the transitional period, most NICUs
Death, n (%) 1 (6) 1 (4) .95
Grade III–IV IVH, n (%) 2 (11) 0 .55 set upper and lower SpO2 limits for infants receiving
Oxygen therapy at adjusted age of 36 wk, n (%) 7 (39) 3 (13) .13 oxygen therapy. Although neonatologists would likely
Isolated gastrointestinal perforation, n (%) 1 (8) 2 (9) .9 agree on the need for setting such limits, agreement
Duration of intubation, median ⫾ SD, d 2 ⫾ 16.8 1 ⫾ 13.3 .51 among units on any actual number is doubtful.
Duration of NCPAP therapy, mean ⫾ SD, d 11 ⫾ 13 12 ⫾ 16 .47 One could question whether allowing a longer inter-
Pneumothorax, n (%) 0 3 (13) .48 val before such rescue would have resulted in sponta-
IVH indicates intraventricular hemorrhage; NCPAP, nasal continuous positive airway pressure. neously improving SpO2 values. We think that this is
unlikely; 1 infant in the room air group was not given
oxygen until 7 minutes of life because the team was not
than pure oxygen. We hypothesized that the best FIO2 certain that the oximeter was functioning. The infant did
for resuscitation might not be the extremes of either not have bradycardia and seemed to be in otherwise
21% or 100% and that a targeted approach might be stable condition. This infant’s SpO2 values remained be-
most successful. We chose our SpO2 targets on the basis low 50% until the FIO2 was increased, at which point the
of the best available pulse oximeter data from observa- SpO2 rapidly increased.
tions of term and near term infants who did not require The need for a blender in the delivery area for the
active resuscitation at birth. We thought that the trajec- resuscitation of preterm infants highlights the poten-
tory of increasing SpO2 after birth in nonresuscitated tial for error, in that the team needs to check the
newborn infants would be the best available model to actual blender setting before the beginning of any
mimic during resuscitation. resuscitation, adding another variable to resuscitation
The SpO2 of a fetus in relatively stable condition is preparation and management. We have experienced
⬃50%35,36 but may be less at the time of birth. The the situation in which a nonstudy infant who was
transition to higher SpO2 after birth has been observed thought to be receiving 100% was actually receiving
by several investigators, mostly evaluating term nonre- room air. Another possible hazard in resuscitation
suscitated neonates. House et al37 studied 100 newborn with room air is the perceived need to compensate for
infants (weight: 850 –5230 g) delivered vaginally or low SpO2 by increasing ventilation, leading to possible
through cesarean section. The average arterial oxygen volutrauma or barotrauma.39
saturation was 59% at 1 minute, 68% at 2 minutes, 82% We postulate that the persistently low initial SpO2
at 5 minutes, and 90% at 15 minutes. Toth et al38 studied values we observed during room air resuscitation of very
50 healthy, vaginally delivered, newborn infants and preterm neonates may be related to the lack of adapta-
compared the SpO2 values from preductal and postductal tion of the pulmonary vasculature at birth in the absence
sites. Two minutes after birth, the mean preductal SpO2 of supplemental oxygen. Therefore, we think that the
was 73% (range: 44%–95%) and the mean postductal low SpO2 values probably reflect a fetal circulation with
SpO2 was 67% (range: 34%–93%). SpO2 levels of ⬎95% right-to-left shunting at the ductal and foraminal levels,
were reached after 12 minutes (range: 2–55 minutes) for secondary to continuing pulmonary vasoconstriction.
preductal values and after 14 minutes (range: 3–55 min- The gradient between preductal and postductal SpO2
utes) for postductal values.38 More recently, Kamlin et values in preterm neonates may be larger and persist
al26 reported SpO2 values in the first minutes after birth longer than reported by Mariani et al28 for the term
in healthy nonresuscitated neonates. The median level population. We speculate that there are different sensi-
at 3 minutes was 76% (interquartile range: 64%– 87%). tivities of the pulmonary circulation to oxygen in pre-
At 5 minutes of life, the median level was 80% (inter- term infants and term infants, and we think that this
quartile range: 40%–95%). This study demonstrated mechanism requires additional study in relevant animal
that infants of ⬍37 weeks who did not receive resusci- models. In addition, although we did not observe any
tation required 4.4 minutes to achieve SpO2 of 75% and significant difference in intrauterine growth retardation
7.3 minutes to achieve SpO2 of 90%. between the groups, there were fewer such cases in the
The targets we chose for adjustment of delivered FIO2 room air group, and fetal distress and/or hypoxia in
in the study group were near the median levels for utero, as may occur in infants with intrauterine growth
nonresuscitated neonates. These were the lowest levels retardation, may actually encourage this physiologic re-
we felt comfortable allowing with this new approach to sponse and require oxygen to reduce the elevated pul-
adjusting delivered FIO2. We were unable to meet these monary vascular pressures at birth.
targets in any resuscitated infants with room air used as The rate of PPV in our population was high, although
the initial gas. It may be argued that these targets were cord blood gas values on average did not suggest that the
too high and we failed to accomplish resuscitation with infants were compromised before delivery. We think
room air because we set the wrong targets. If our study that this finding reflects the increased difficulties that
population were similar to the populations used in the preterm infants have with the transition to neonatal life,
observational studies, with the median as the target, compared with term neonates. Our rate of PPV might be
then by definition 50% of the infants would not achieve higher than previously thought because of the objective
the target. In our study population, however, 100% of nature of our video review of the resuscitations and
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Noted by JFL, MD
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