Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association
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Manual ventilation of neonates suffering from respiratory distress is frequently performed in the hospital setting. The authors hypothesized that without manometer feedback present, experienced neonatal intensive care therapists cannot accurately estimate ventilating pressures. We also speculated that with rate feedback present, this same group could match a given ventilatory rate. ⋯ Rate accuracy was good with the higher rate, but there was some statistical deviation from the given lower rate for both models. We conclude that in the presence of a cycling ventilator set at the desired rate, this group of therapists could replicate the cycling rate. However, without a means for feedback of ventilating pressures, dictated pressures could not be matched.
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To evaluate the effect of body position on oxygenation and ventilation in neonates over a prolonged period, infants with respiratory disease were followed by transcutaneous (tc) monitoring for alterations in tcPO2 and tcPCO2 with position changes. In 14 studies of seven patients, prone positioning was compared with supine positioning over a 6-hour interval. All patients were premature, were receiving supplemental oxygen, and had respiratory disease secondary to prematurity. ⋯ No significant change in tcPCO2 was detected. Infants were also found to spend a greater proportion of time sleeping when prone (75% +/- 13% vs 33% +/- 14%; P less than .05). These finding suggest that improvement in oxygenation with the prone position is stable over an extended period in the sick preterm infant.