Neonatology Oxygen Therapy Guidelines

摘要

Key Points: Oxygen is critical for normal cellular functioning in the body. Though hypoxia can lead to cellular stress and death, hyperoxia can also be toxic to cells and contribute to many diseases in the neonatal population. Optimal goal oxygen saturation levels for neonates are still unknown, and current definitions of target oxygen saturation levels balance risk of various neonatal morbidities. At this point in time, a reasonable upper saturation limit for extremely low birth weight infants is 95% (Cummings, 2016). The lower limit is not known. Introduction: Oxygen is one of the essential elements for life as it maintains normal physiologic processes. Oxygen was discovered in 1604 by Sedziwoj; the necessity of oxygen for life was characterized in the late 1700s by Sheele and Priestley (Cummings, 2016). It has been used for centuries for various medical treatment modalities and diagnosis. However, like other treatment modalities, there are risks and benefits to its use. Oxygen is a treatment modality/drug that is administered to babies worldwide (Grainge 2004). Normoxia is the level of oxygen (often expressed as partial pressure of oxygen or pO_2) required for physiologic processes to occur normally and is the optimal level for oxygen in the body.