USING THE AUTOMATED FIO 2 ! SPO 2 CONTROL IN NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS IN POLAND. A PRELIMINARY REPORT ZASTOSOWANIE AUTOMATYCZNEJ KONTROLI FIO 2 ! SPO 2 W ODDZIAŁACH INTENSYWNEJ TERAPII NOWORODKA W POLSCE. DONIESIENIE WSTĘPNE

Aim: Analysis of the way in which a new method of implementing the automated control of oxygen therapy during respiratory support is applied in newborns with respiratory failure. Material, methods and results: The AVEA-CLiO 2 ventilator with automated FiO 2 - SpO 2 control was used in our study of 121 newborns conducted between February 2014 and January 2015 in !ve neonatal intensive care units. A web-based database was used to gather information entered concurrently with using the FiO 2 - SpO 2 control system. This included demographics, clinical status, clinical indications, as well as objective and subjective experience. Among the 121 newborns 94 were preterm and 27 were near-term (33-36 hbd). The primary indication for using the system was “routine management” of FiO 2 during respiratory support and it was generally initiated within the !rst 2 days of life. Many of the newborns were managed with the system for more than a week. The control range was usually 90%-95% SpO 2 , though sometimes it was lower or wider. The control range was not related to the newborn’s maturity or indication for use. The perception of more “frequent and persistent” SpO 2 alarms was lower when the alarms were set loosely. There were no reports of the system not working e"ectively. Conclusions: We expect this !rst report of the routine use of automated FiO 2 - SpO 2 control to be useful not only to other centers in Poland but also to all those adopting this important new technology. Our registry continues and we expect to have an update when we have experience with 1000 infants. Carefully controlled trials are also needed to re!ne the optimum use of automated FiO 2 - SpO 2 control and to quantify its impact on neonatal outcomes.