Oxygenation during chest physiotherapy of very-low-birth-weight infants: relations among fraction of inspired oxygen levels, number of hand ventilations, and transcutaneous oxygen pressure.

Chest physiotherapy (CPT) to clear the airway of infants requiring assisted ventilation is a routine procedure in neonatal intensive care units. This study was done to describe the relationships between fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) levels and the number of hand ventilations (independent variables) and variations of transcutaneous oxygen pressure (TcPO2) from baseline among intubated very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants receiving CPT. The study consisted of 30 observations of 13 intubated VLBW infants receiving CPT. Data were obtained by observations during routine CPT procedures performed by the nurses in charge of the infants. Stepwise multiple regression showed that hand ventilations and FiO2 levels significantly accounted for the variability in TcPO2 levels during CPT. Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between FiO2 and TcPO2 and between the number of hand ventilations and TcPO2.