Paeds Cases · respiratory-sleep-and-airway
Oxygen therapy and home oxygen in children — structured clinical encounter
Structured encounter following an ex-preterm infant with chronic lung disease of prematurity from a hospital oxygen requirement to a home oxygen programme and its weaning: setting the saturation target, choosing the device, recognising the readiness criteria for home oxygen, arranging the equipment and safety, planning the weaning day then sleep then off, and counselling the family, with the acute principles of the hypoxaemic child woven through.
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Station 1 — setting the target and the device
Asked how I decide her oxygen, I explain that oxygen is a drug titrated to a prescribed saturation target band rather than to the highest number, and that for an infant with chronic lung disease the band is set to protect growth and the pulmonary circulation while avoiding hyperoxia. A nasal cannula at a low flow is the right device because it is comfortable and lets her feed, and I titrate the flow to keep her in the band, watching especially during sleep and feeding when saturations dip lowest. [1] [3]
References11ShowHide
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