Ventilation Onset Prior to Umbilical Cord Clamping (Physiological-Based Cord Clamping) Improves Systemic and Cerebral Oxygenation in Preterm Lambs

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As measurement of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) is common in the delivery room, target SpO2 ranges allow clinicians to titrate oxygen therapy for preterm infants in order to achieve saturation levels similar to those seen in normal term infants in the first minutes of life. However, the influence of the onset of ventilation and the timing of cord clamping on systemic and cerebral oxygenation is not known. AIM: We investigated whether the initiation of ventilation, prior to, or after umbilical cord clamping, altered systemic and cerebral oxygenation in preterm lambs. METHODS: Systemic and cerebral blood-flows, pressures and peripheral SpO2 and regional cerebral tissue oxygenat..