Dion Joseph, Sosnowski Emil-Peter, Mirembe Tina
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2020 Jul;2020:5154-5157. doi: 10.1109/EMBC44109.2020.9176561.
Oxygen therapy is provided in neonatal intensive care units to prevent and treat neonatal hypoxia. This treatment is essential for the physiological development and survival of neonates with respiratory dysfunctions. One method of providing oxygen therapy involves the use of a simple face mask to deliver oxygen-enriched medical air. In these systems, a flow meter is used to adjust the volumetric flow rate of the gas between 5 to 15 L/min. If the flow rate falls below 5 L/min, there is a risk for exhaled carbon dioxide to accumulate in the mask and cause hypercapnia. Several potential hazards have been identified in the configuration of these oxygen therapy systems in neonatal intensive care units that can result in a decrease of flow rate measurement accuracy: the use of an oxygen flow meter to deliver a mixed gas, the orientation of how the flow meter is installed, and a decrease in pressure due to the use of junctions and medical gas hoses. With reduced measurement accuracy at low flow rate settings, clinical users may not be aware that flow rate may drop below 5 L/min. Furthermore, inconsistencies in physical set-up and labelling may result in the wrong gas being delivered to a neonatal patient. To ensure that patient safety is maintained in neonatal intensive care units, a best practice recommendation is provided to address these potential hazards.
新生儿重症监护病房提供氧气疗法以预防和治疗新生儿缺氧。这种治疗对于呼吸功能障碍新生儿的生理发育和存活至关重要。提供氧气疗法的一种方法是使用简单面罩输送富氧医用空气。在这些系统中，流量计用于将气体的体积流量调节在5至15升/分钟之间。如果流速降至5升/分钟以下，呼出的二氧化碳有在面罩中积聚并导致高碳酸血症的风险。在新生儿重症监护病房的这些氧气疗法系统配置中已发现若干潜在危害，这些危害可能导致流速测量精度降低：使用氧气流量计输送混合气体、流量计的安装方向以及由于使用接头和医用气体软管导致的压力降低。在低流速设置下测量精度降低时，临床使用者可能未意识到流速可能降至5升/分钟以下。此外，物理设置和标签不一致可能导致错误的气体输送给新生儿患者。为确保新生儿重症监护病房维持患者安全，提供了一项最佳实践建议以应对这些潜在危害。
